June 2022

Rayleigh pervert charged with acts of outraging public decency

A Rayleigh pervert branded a “revolting old man” by a judge is just the second person in the country to be charged with act of outraging public decency.

Sean Bartropp,of Warick Road, Rayleigh, appeared in Southend Crown Court yesterday after police found a catalogue of indecent images of children on his computer, including the videos of women he had taken on Southend and Westcliff beaches.

The images of children were categorised as among the most serious.

The court heard the 53-year-old had videos dating back as far as the early nineties.

He avoided jail but was branded “disgraceful” by the judge. Judge Samantha Cohen described Bartropp as a “revolting old man”. 

Essex Police says the force believes this to be only the second occasion in the country that these charges were authorised in relation to the specific type of offending.

Bartropp was sentenced to 12 months in custody, suspended for two years and must also complete 60 days of rehabilitation requirement.

He was also made the subject of a curfew, which means he is required to remain at home between 9am and 7pm each day until September 3 2022.

He will also remain on the sex offender’s register for life while also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years.

All material gathered during the course of our investigation will be destroyed.

During the raid of his home three homemade indecent videos of children were discovered as well as about 113 images and videos which could not in law be classified but were, to the senior investigating officer, clearly invasive and illegal.

As well as being charged in relation to the indecent images of children, innovative detective work in relation to the unclassified content meant we were also able to secure authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service to charge Bartropp under the common law of outraging public decency.