A former IT technician who installed software onto work computers to spy on staff has been jailed.
Officers initially arrested Andrew Cakebread, 36 after acting on information to suggest he had indecent images of children on his computers but the investigation led officers to discover footage that appeared to be from software installed on staff computers that allowed him to spy on them.
On 6 February 2019, officers from Kent Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation team executed a warrant at his home address in Lower Stone Street, Maidstone.
He was arrested and officers seized a desktop computer and external hard drive where they found 712 indecent images and 206 videos of children. None of these images or videos involved anyone at his place of work.
When officers searched the hard drive they also found videos of adults and children being filmed while working at computers and laptops.
Cakebread’s employers were unaware the software had been installed and had not authorised it to be.
The hard drive was found to contain a total of 6,724 videos of staff members and their family members, plus a further 79 webcam videos.
This led to his further arrest on 29 March 2020.
A further review revealed covert footage taken in the staff toilets which led to further interviews.
Cakebread was subsequently charged with three counts of making indecent images of children, observing a person doing a private act and causing a computer to perform a function to secure/enable unauthorised access to a program/data.
He pleaded guilty to the offences in October 2020 and on Thursday 4 March 2021, was jailed for 30 months at Maidstone Crown Court.
Investigating officer Christina Rookes said: ‘The breach of trust in this case is astounding. ‘Andrew Cakebread was in a position of trust and used that to spy on people in their private activities. ‘Additionally he accessed a large amount of child abuse images, fully understanding the impact upon the children involved, but nonetheless continued to exploit them. ‘I am pleased that our detailed investigation has uncovered the full extent of his offending and that he has been brought to justice.’
Investigating officer Christina Rookes