Paedophile Tristan Clamp used a secret camera hidden in his shoe to film up girls’ skirts in supermarkets (Picture: PA/Solent News)
A paedophile who used a secret camera to make upskirting videos of young children has been jailed for four and a half years.
Scout leader Tristan Clamp made hundreds of the depraved videos over the course of a year, with some featuring girls as young as seven.
The secret filming was just aspect of the 33-year-old’s decade-long campaign of paedophilia and sexual abuse, Southampton Crown Court heard.
During a raid on his home in April 2023, police uncovered a ‘paedophile manual’ as well as more than 37,000 indecent images of children and a ‘camera recording pen’, which was used to secretly film a child in a bathroom.
Clamp engaged in a decade-long campaign of paedophilia and sexual crime (Picture: PA/Solent News)
He was also found guilty of possessing a paedophile manual, possessing prohibited images, taking indecent images, sexual assault, three counts of making indecent images and two counts of voyeurism.
In a statement read out in court, one of his victims described him as ‘a monster’, adding that she can’t sleep or eat properly and is now on medication as a result.
She said: ‘I don’t believe that you are sorry or remorseful. I believe that you say sorry now because it is self-serving.’
Clamp’s offences occurred between January 2010 and August 2021, with the supermarket footage filmed between July 2018 and July 2019.
Prosecutor Martyn Booth said officers became suspicious when his IP address was linked to the downloading of indecent images of children.
Of the images that were examined, there were 9,594 Category A images – the most severe kind – as well as 6,234 Category B and 22,034 Category C.
Clamp, of Ringwood, Hants, initially denied the offences when arrested and interviewed, but admitted them in subsequent interviews.
Clamp was branded a ‘monster’ and a danger to prepubescant girls in court (Picture: PA)
Sentencing him, Judge Gary Burrell KC said Clamp has an ‘interest in prepubescent girls’, branding him a danger of future offending due to the ‘depravity’ of his actions.
He added that the upskirting was ‘obviously thought out and planned’.
Sentencing Clamp, the judge said; ‘You are a deceitful and deviant offender. The paedophile manual is an abominable document. The indecent images are horrendous images of abuse.
‘I have great doubts as to whether your remorse is genuine and I agree with the victim, who states your deceit was ongoing for many years.’
Responding to a letter Clamp had written for the court, the judge said: ‘In my judgement, your letter to the court smacks of self-pity and regret and is entirely self-serving.’
Judge Burrell went on to thank and praise the victim for reading her personal statement in court, describing her as ‘courageous’ and having ‘suffered severe psychological harm’ as a result of Clamp’s actions.
As well as the time he will now spend behind bars, Clamp must also serve a total extended licence period of seven and a half years.
He will also be subject to restraining orders and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Forfeiture orders are in place for all of his devices containing illegal material.
Reflecting on the sentencing, PC Hannah Wood said: ‘I am so pleased that the victims in this case have finally seen justice and seen Clamp put behind bars, where he belongs.
‘I want to echo the Judge in praising the victims for their bravery throughout this investigation and for their determination to see Clamp face the consequences for his sickening crimes. I would like to thank one victim for her bravery in reading her personal statement out in court and I hope it has brought her some closure.
‘I know that the sentence alone won’t rid the victims of the memories of what happened to them, but I truly hope it allows them to move forward with their lives, safe in the knowledge that Clamp is locked up and can’t now harm anyone else.’
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