Stephen Mollison

A 52-year-old man from Bury St Edmunds has admitted to serious charges related to child sexual abuse material following an investigation by Suffolk Police, prompted by intelligence from the National Crime Agency.

Stephen Mollison, residing on Northgate Street in Bury St Edmunds, appeared at Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Friday, 4 February 2022, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent images of children, one count of possessing extreme pornographic images, and one count of possessing prohibited images of children. The court heard that the investigation began when police received information from the National Crime Agency about an IP address linked to uploads of indecent images of children via a Tumblr account.

Prosecutor Lesla Small detailed how officers traced the account to Mollison's home address and conducted a visit on 4 December 2020. During the search, a number of electronic devices were seized and subsequently analysed. The forensic examination revealed one category B indecent image, five category C indecent images, 19 prohibited images, and three extreme pornographic videos. Ms Small noted that the category B and C images primarily involved teenage girls.

• Police received NCA intelligence regarding IP address and Tumblr uploads.
• Devices seized from Mollison's home on 4 December 2020.
• Forensic analysis uncovered multiple illegal images and videos.

In his police interview, Mollison claimed it was not his intention to seek out such images but admitted to having seen some. He stated that he had previously tried to report indecent images. No previous convictions were recorded against him.

Mitigating, Claire Lockwood emphasised that Mollison accepts full responsibility for the images, which were not stored in any encrypted files. She highlighted his full cooperation with the investigation, noting that he was not arrested on the spot after agreeing to surrender the devices voluntarily. Mollison later attended a voluntary interview at the police station. Ms Lockwood also confirmed there has been no further offending since the discovery of the material.

Given the seriousness of the charges, magistrates committed the case to Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing on a date to be fixed. An all-options pre-sentence report was ordered, and Mollison was granted unconditional bail. Ahead of his sentencing, he has been required to sign the sex offenders' register.

This case underscores the role of national agencies like the NCA in identifying online child exploitation, with local forces such as Suffolk Police acting swiftly on the intelligence. The article is reported by Michael Steward, Crime Reporter for Bury Mercury, based on proceedings at Suffolk Magistrates' Court.