Ipswich man handed suspended sentence for child sex offences

Ipswich man handed suspended sentence for child sex offences

A 54-year-old man from Ipswich has been convicted of child sex offences.

Mark Nicholas, of Defoe Road in Ipswich, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday 17 September where he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.

He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent images of a child, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause/incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause a child to watch/look at images of sexual activity.

Nicholas was arrested at his home address on 7 June 2025 after police received intelligence that he had uploaded a suspected indecent image of a child to the internet.

Following a search of his property, police seized four devices for forensic examination which identified three category A images and six category C images.

There was also evidence of graphic sexualised chats with a teenage girl on his mobile phone, using an encrypted app.

In addition to his sentence, Nicholas was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and ordered to complete a 40-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. He was also given a trail monitoring requirement for nine months.

Detective Sergeant Mark Cotton from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team said: “Nicholas’ conviction has come as a result of proactive partnership working with the National Crime Agency.

“A search of his phone found that he had been messaging what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl with whom he was using explicit and predatory language.

“Suffolk Constabulary remains committed to protecting children from sexual abuse, and we will do everything we can to ensure offenders are brought before the courts.”