Former National Crime Agency officer jailed over indecent images of children

A former National Crime Agency (NCA) officer who used his work device to access, view and download indecent images of children, and child sexual abuse material, has today been jailed.

Adam Taylor, 40, was prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following an investigation by the NCA's Anti-Corruption Unit.

Taylor has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on Friday 2 August 2024 after previously pleading guilty to six charges, including misconduct in public office, making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography.

He has also been given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was made to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Taylor, of Waltham Abbey, was arrested in April 2022 at his place of work, which was searched together with his home address during which a number of electronic devices, including his laptops, tablets, and USBs, were found and seized by law enforcement. Analysis of the devices uncovered more than 700 indecent images of children, and more than 200 images of extreme pornography. Two work devices, one recovered at his place of work and another at his home contained indecent images of children.

The defendant had been working as an intelligence officer at the time of his arrest and had been employed with the NCA since 2014. Taylor expressed an interest in specialising in Child Sexual Exploitation work, however the work he was employed to do did not require him to access child sexual abuse and exploitation material.

Evidence from his devices showed that between May 2012 and April 2022, Taylor had been downloading and viewing child sexual abuse material.

Catrin Attwell, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Adam Taylor intentionally used his employment to obtain information to facilitate the viewing and downloading of indecent images of children and used NCA official devices for this purpose. The indecent images of children on the devices contained some of the most horrific sexual abuse of children.

“His actions were a gross breach of the trust placed in him as an officer and severely undermined the integrity and standards expected from those in his position.

“After collaborative work from the CPS and the NCA, Taylor was left with no option but to plead guilty and face the consequences of his actions.

“The CPS is determined to tackle child sexual abuse in all its forms and to help stop the devastating impact of these crimes on victims. I hope this case illustrates our dedication to prosecuting child sexual abuse offenders, no matter who they are.”

To deal with some of the more complex and challenging child sexual abuse cases like this one, the CPS established its dedicated Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit to share specialist understanding, build strong cases and increase the amount of successful prosecutions

Rob Jones, NCA Director General (Operations), said: “The NCA is committed to protecting children from sexual abuse, wherever in the world it is happening. We are determined to ensure there is no safe haven for perpetrators, including and especially within law enforcement.

“NCA officers from our Anti-Corruption Unit carried out a meticulous, covert investigation which identified Taylor’s offending and ultimately brought him to justice.

“The NCA will work tirelessly to tackle corruption and breaches of our standards of professional behaviour, without fear or favour, wherever they occur

“We welcome this custodial sentence which recognises the gravity of Taylor’s crimes.”