A man has been jailed for 21 years after a court heard he filmed his wife committing sexual acts with their dogs and stored thousands of images and videos of bestiality and child sexual abuse.
At Preston Crown Court on Monday, 43-year-old Daniel Rochford was convicted of a string of offences including rape, sexual activity in the presence of a child, causing a child to watch a sexual act, sexual communication with a child, sexual assault, voyeurism and encouraging the sexual abuse of animals by recording it. The court was told officers recovered 2,180 images and videos of extreme bestiality from Rochford’s devices, alongside 165 images of child sexual abuse, 92 of which were categorised as the most serious (category A).
Rochford was sentenced to 21 years’ imprisonment and will serve an eight‑year extended licence on release — the maximum extension available — and will be placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely. He has also been made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
His 42‑year‑old wife, Jennifer Rochford, pleaded guilty to eight counts of bestiality and possession of extreme pornography. She was given a nine‑month prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to undertake a 20‑day rehabilitation activity requirement, placed on the sex offenders register for three years and handed a sexual harm prevention order. Prosecutors said she possessed 1,764 extreme images of bestiality and acted as an administrator for an online group that shared similar material.
The court heard the couple lived in a flat above an address previously used as a veterinary practice in South Ribble, Lancashire. Prosecutors clarified the offences involved the couple’s own animals; there is no longer a veterinary clinic at the address.
Judge Guy Mathieson, imposing sentence, described material recovered from the couple as showing how much sexual gratification they derived from the acts. He told Rochford the offences demonstrated a readiness to use and corrupt women and girls for his own sexual gratification.
Rochford was also convicted of offences against a schoolgirl and of showing pornographic images to another child, matters the judge said contributed to the length of his sentence.
The case was reported to the police after material was discovered during an investigation.
