Child sex offender found 100 miles from home

A Kent child sex offender has been jailed after police found him sleeping in his car in a Surrey village 100 miles away from his home.

Matthew Downing, 25, was previously convicted of making indecent images of children in January 2022 and issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which allowed Kent Police to monitor his devices.

After officers could not find him at his Dover home in February, they tracked Downing to Gomshall, where he was found sleeping in a newly-purchased car.

Downing admitted 13 separate offences, including using the dark web to make further indecent images of children, and was jailed for over five years in a hearing at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday.

A hearing was told that Downing, of Salisbury Road, was not allowed to use any phone or computer without letting Kent Police know and allowing monitoring software to be installed.

Police said they became aware that he had been using devices without permission in February 2025 but were unable to find him at his address.

In a police interview Downing refused to answer questions and was later charged with 13 offences.

Charges included use of an anonymous browser, a social media app with disappearing messages and failing to notify police that he had access to a smartphone, laptop and other devices, all of which was prohibited by his SHPO.

Downing was jailed for five years and three months, including a two years and three months sentence for unrelated offences committed outside of Kent.

Kent Police Detective Constable Marie-Ann Boulton said: "Matthew Downing has repeatedly demonstrated that he cannot be trusted to access the internet without being complicit in the sexual abuse of children whose images he views and shares online.

"Sexual Harm Prevention Orders help to reduce the risk offenders like Downing may pose to the public after being released from prison, and enforcing them is a responsibility we take very seriously.

"Downing thought he could get away with hiding his devices from us by running away to Surrey, but our specialist officers were quickly able to locate him and bring him to justice. He will now serve another period of time behind bars as a result."

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