Home office consultant had child porn

A Home Office consultant specialising in criminal justice was caught with 65 indecent images and videos of children as young as six, a court heard.

Arun Sohdi, 32, was arrested following police intelligence linking him to the prohibited media on 24 August 2019.

Police retrieved six still and 36 moving category A images, 12 category B still images and 1 video and 10 still category C images from a number of Sohdi’s electronic devices, prosecutors said.

Category A is deemed the most severe, Category B – falls in the mid-range in terms of seriousness and Category C – is graded the least severe.

Sohdi, who appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court via video-link because he is shielding, admitted making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child and possessing the prohibited media.

Priya Varma, prosecuting, said: ‘The police had intelligence in relation to indecent images of children at the suspect’s home address, a number of devices were seized.

‘The children in the images are as young as six years old. The Crown would invite these matters to be sent to the Crown Court for sentence.’

Sohdi supports public sector clients in the areas of research and data analysis with specialisms in substance misuse, criminal justice and public health, according to his Linkedin profile.

The consultant, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, admitted possessing prohibited images of a child and three counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child.

He was made the subject of a sex offenders’ notification requirement where he must provide police with personal particulars and notify officers if he moves address.

District Judge Jodie Mittell granted Sohdi bail ahead of sentence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 15 April.