Former police staff member sentenced for possession of child sexual abuse material

A former member of Sussex Police licensing staff has been sentenced at court for possession of child sexual abuse material.

Phil Joseph, 28, was charged with one count of distributing indecent images of children and three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He was arrested in September, 2024, after coming to the attention of police for suspicious online activity.

Searches of his digital devices found 421 child sex abuse images, including 247 of the most serious, category A.

At the time of the allegations, Joseph was a civilian member of police staff, working as a licensing officer based in East Sussex.

He was suspended from duty and has since resigned from the force.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 5 December, 2025, Joseph pleaded guilty to all counts. At Hove Trial Centre on Tuesday (10 February), he was sentenced to 18 months in custody, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid community service and 20 days of rehabilitation.

Detective Chief Inspector Luke Kyriakides-Yeldham said: “Phil Joseph’s offending makes him complicit in the sexual abuse of children, in a total betrayal of his duty to protect the public as a former member of police staff.

“Online child sexual offending is an issue growing in scale and complexity and we are committed to bringing offenders to justice while safeguarding young people.”