It should be noted that a pedophile was imprisoned for sexually assaulting a child

Kevin Challen, 55, from Worthing, sent the message to a child while serving a ten-month suspended sentence after indecent images of children were found on his computer in March 2021.

The member received a suspended sentence and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years subject to special restrictions under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

While serving a suspended sentence, Chellen breached the terms of his SHPO and, through lies and deception, befriended unsuspecting family friends and began texting the 12-year-old.

Kevin Challen was jailed for 31 months (Image: Sussex Police)

The child was brave enough to inform his parents of the extent of Chelen’s illicit contact with them, and this led to Chelen being arrested again by Sussex Police.

Following an investigation, Chelen was charged with three offenses of breaching his SHPO, as well as failing to comply with sex offender registry notifications.

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Challen pleaded guilty to the offenses and appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday March 15 for sentencing, where he was jailed for 31 months and his SHPO was changed to an indefinite one.

Criminal Detective Constable Dawn Hosken said: “I would like to thank the victims for their bravery in coming forward and the witnesses for their support in this case. A member convicted of a sex crime is now in prison.”