Police 'failed to find child sex abuse images on paedophile's laptop and set him free'

Paul Ashbury was arrested by a different force five years later and admitted offences including raping a child

Police officers patrol as residents begin to prepare for a storm surge that could affect their properties on January 13, 2017 in Jaywick, England. (Getty)

Police allegedly failed to find incriminating child abuse images on a laptop belonging to a paedophile and set him free, only for him to be convicted of rape years later.

Essex Police arrested Paul Ashbury in 2012 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child and possessing indecent images, seizing devices thought to contain more than 100 photos and videos.

But the force decided to take no further action against him nine months later and handed back his computers.

Mr ​Ashbury was not arrested again until October 2017 and admitted 27 crimes including rape, sexual assault and sexual activity with a child under 13, making indecent photographs of a child and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The 52-year-old, of Anthony Nolan Road in Kings Lynn, was eventually jailed for 15 years – almost six years after he was first arrested.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the images were believed to have been Ashbury’s when Essex Police decided not to take any action against him, but “had not been identified” until offices in Norfolk later seized the same device.

The watchdog is investigating the conduct of Essex Police’s West child abuse investigation team and whether the investigation was carried out in accordance with its policy, procedures and guidelines.

IOPC Regional Director for the south east, Sarah Green, said: “These are extremely serious allegations regarding how Essex Police investigated a man who later admitted multiple child sexual offences following the investigation by Norfolk Police.

“We will examine the officers’ actions and what if anything they could have done differently.”

A spokesperson for Essex Police said the force would comply fully with the investigation, adding: “Since this incident Essex Police has made significant improvements to policing of these offences and has invested heavily in more officers and better technology to identify offences and evidence and protect children.”

The investigation comes after police warned that a “horrifying” number of men were viewing child sex abuse images online in the UK. More illegal images are being detected on the internet than ever before and paedophiles are going to ever greater lengths to evade detection by exploiting technology like encryption and the dark web, a report found earlier this month.

The number of people seeking help to stop viewing the images also rose by 40 per cent to more than 36,400 last year.