A 21-year-old East London resident, Richard Ehiemere, has been sentenced to more than 12 months in prison over crimes involving the possession and distribution of sexual abuse images of minors.

According to the UK’s National Crime Agency, Mr Ehiemere first came under the radar of law enforcement agencies in 2021 when he was 17 after instant messaging and VoIP social platform Discord reported the activities of a CVLT group, which the defendant was linked to.

CVLT is a form of ‘Com’ network, typically made up of young males who share harmful and misogynistic content and commit a range of online offences, with members often committing more serious crimes or encouraging others to commit crimes to gain promotions among their peers. 

Authorities immediately opened an investigation into Mr Ehiemere, and it was established that he had logged on to Discord channels connected to CVLT hundreds of times, where he accessed and shared indecent images of children.

NCA investigators were able to trace these logins back to Mr Ehiemere’s home address in Hackney, where he was arrested in April 2021 with the assistance of the Metropolitan Police Service, yielding more incriminating evidence of images of minors found on the defendant’s phone that was seized.

Subsequently, Mr Ehiemere was charged with two fraud offences and three IIOC offences and convicted by a jury at Aldersgate Nightingale Court on February 25 this year, following a seven-day trial. 

On May 1, the Snaresbrook Crown Court sentenced him to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months and was also given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Reacting to the judge, Steve Laval, NCA’s senior investigating officer at the National Cyber Crime Unit, said, “Richard Ehiemere helped this dangerous online group by supplying stolen information which they could use to defraud a significant number of victims. 

“His actions helped to promote violence against women and girls and the NCA, alongside our policing partners, will do everything we can to identify and disrupt these harmful groups.”

Mr Laval added, “Together, we will reduce the threat posed by these groups, pursuing their members or those associated with them, and raising awareness with parents and educators to help them spot malign behaviour.”