A registered sex offender from Medway has been sent to prison after police found hundreds of indecent images of children on his mobile phone, leading to his arrest for breaching multiple court conditions. Haydon Sheard, 27, was convicted in 2018 for possessing and distributing indecent images of children. As a result of his original sentence, he was placed on the sex offenders register and subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which required him to notify police of all internet-enabled devices he owned.
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On April 25, 2025, two police officers made an unannounced visit to Sheard’s home. They discovered him acting suspiciously with a mobile phone. A check of the device revealed an indecent video of a child, leading to his immediate arrest. During a subsequent search of his room, investigators found an e-reader and a memory card he had not declared, along with two undeclared bank cards, all in violation of his SHPO. A forensic examination of his mobile phone later uncovered 355 illegal images of children, five of which were of the most serious category. Sheard, from Chatham, pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to three counts of possessing indecent images of children, five counts of breaching his SHPO, and one count of breaching his sex offender notification requirements. On Friday, August 29, Sheard was sentenced to two years and four months in prison. His SHPO was also extended for an additional ten years.
Investigating officer, PC Leona Valsler, said: ‘Some sex offenders when sentenced are given the opportunity to show they regret their behaviour and want to reform. They are then given strict conditions on their conduct which we regularly monitor. Sheard has shown that he cannot be trusted to behave lawfully whilst living in the community and he is now serving a prison sentence. It can only be hoped that he reflects on his actions as, when he is released, the restrictions on his behaviour will be more onerous and our inspections more frequent.’