David Cheneler, 73, who has a history of child sexual offences spanning six decades, picked the child up from school after gaining the trust of her mother – who was unaware of his criminal past
Police bodycam shows the arrest of David Cheneler
This is the moment police arrested a registered sex offender who was armed with a knife and caught with a six-year-old girl he picked up from a London school. David Cheneler, 73, who has a history of child sexual offences spanning six decades, “could have gone on to abuse” a child after gaining the trust of her mother, who was unaware of his criminal past.
He was identified through live facial recognition technology deployed near Denmark Hill, close to Camberwell. Cameras flagged a match with a watchlist of offenders, prompting an alert, and officers stopped Cheneler in the street on January 10.
In body-worn camera footage released by the Metropolitan Police, he immediately told officers: “I shouldn’t be with that child. But I’ve only taken her from school to her mum’s.
“We’ve made a mistake, we got the wrong bus.” He also directed officers to search the buckle of his belt, where he had hidden a lock knife, and boasted they “won’t probably” find it.
Further checks revealed that Cheneler was in breach of a 2019 sexual offences prevention order, which prohibited him from being alone with any child under the age of 14.
That order had been imposed following his 2010 convictions for 15 counts of indecent assault on a female under 16 and five counts of gross indecency with a child, committed between 1968 and 1993. He served a nine-year prison sentence for those offences.
At Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday, Cheneler, of Elfrida Crescent in Bellingham, Lewisham, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to breaching the terms of his order and to possessing an offensive weapon.
According to the Metropolitan Police, Cheneler had collected the child from school on three occasions, including the day of his arrest, as a favour to her mother, with whom he had formed a relationship over the previous year.
Detective Constable Adam Pearce, of the Met’s South East Public Protection Command Unit, said: “This is a prime example of how the Met is using technology to remove dangerous offenders from our streets, and live facial recognition remains an important tool in protecting Londoners.
“Although there were no allegations made towards David Cheneler on this occasion, we are certain if he hadn’t been identified using this technology, he could have gone on to abuse this child. Her mother was completely unaware of his offending history, and along with her young daughter, were both taken advantage of by Cheneler who abused their trust.”
Lindsey Chiswick, the Met’s lead for live facial recognition, added: “The Met is committed to making London safer, using data and technology to identify offenders that pose a risk to our communities. This is a prime example of the variety of uses for LFR. The tool is not only used to find those wanted, but also to stop people on a watchlist who have conditions they must adhere to.
“These interventions are crucial. Without this technology, Cheneler may have had the opportunity to cause further harm.”