‘Abhorrent’ Surrey Police Community Support Officer who admitted taking and distributing child abuse images is jailed for six years
A former PCSO has been jailed for six years after he pleaded guilty to 33 offences of making, taking or distributing indecent images of children.
William Redwood, 24, pleaded guilty in July 2022 to possessing and taking the illicit images, which were taken between 2016 and 2020.
The victims, who are both male and female, were aged between 12 and 17 when the images were taken.
Redwood, who joined Surrey Police as a Runnymede-based PCSO in October 2019, was aged between 17 and 22 during the time of the offences.
His supervisor raised concerns in August 2020 that Redwood had formed ‘an inappropriate and undisclosed association’ and accessed confidential police information without due cause.
William Redwood, 24, pleaded guilty to 33 counts of possessing, distributing or making indecent images of children and was jailed for six years
He resigned from the force in December 2020 ahead of an internal misconduct hearing, after the indecent images were found on his phone when it was seized.
The former PCSO has been placed on a banned list.
Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp said: ‘This case has had a devastating impact on the victims involved and I commend them for their bravery in providing us with statements which led to him pleading guilty at an earlier hearing. I hope all those affected by his abhorrent criminal actions can take some comfort in the fact that he is now behind bars and that it gives them some closure.
‘It is extremely regrettable that Redwood had the privilege of serving as a PCSO with Surrey Police. As soon as these concerns came to light, he was suspended from duty and a thorough and determined investigation was carried out. A subsequent misconduct hearing found that he would have been dismissed had he not resigned.
‘Surrey Police will always proactively seek to identify and remove individuals who fail to abide by the standards of professional behaviour or meet the rigorous expectations of the public.
‘The severity of the custodial sentence given to him today is welcome and reflects the gravity of his offending and marks the conclusion of a traumatic and complex investigation.’
