Phil Joseph – East Sussex

A police staff member has been spared jail after being caught with nearly 500 child sex abuse images.

Phil Joseph, 28, from Heathfield, East Sussex, was in possession of some 421 indecent images of children upon his arrest in September 2024.

More than half of them (247) were of the most serious Category A, which describes pictures of either penetration, bestiality or sadism.

The paedophile was serving as a licensing officer at Sussex Police at the time.

But he has since been suspended and independently resigned from the civilian staff role, which saw him manage, inspect and regulate licensed premises, such as pubs, bars and takeaways.

Joseph was charged with one count of distributing indecent images of children and three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty to all counts at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on December 5.

But the former police staff member was spared jail when he appeared at Hove Trial Centre for sentencing on February 10.

He was handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid community service and 20 days of rehabilitation.

Joseph came to the attention of Sussex Police for suspicious online activity, with searches of his devices eventually revealing his cache of images.

It is understood he was subject to a misconduct hearing in March last year, which concluded he would have been dismissed had he not already resigned.