Callum Powell, who was part of the collective STORROR, has received a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to possessing nearly 3,000 indecent images of children
An athlete and YouTuber with more than 11 million subscribers has been spared prison after pleading guilty to making and possessing nearly 3,000 images of sex abuse involving children.
Callum Powell began training in Parkour in 2006 and joined the Brighton-based collective STORROR in 2010, contributing to their huge social media following. During his career, he performed stunt work for major films, including Netflix’s 6 Underground, and authored the book WHAT IS PARKOUR?, published in early 2026.
However, the Parkour athlete was permanently removed from the prominent collective following his arrest and subsequent guilty plea for possessing nearly 3,000 indecent images of children, some as young as six. He was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on July 1.
Police raided Powell’s bedroom in June 2025 after receiving data alerts tied to a Google account. Investigators uncovered thousands of illegal files across his iPhone, hard drives, and SD cards, including Category A images – the most severe category. As explained during Powell’s sentencing remarks, indecent images of children are classified into three categories according to their gravity.
Category A is reserved for the most serious material, including the penetrative sexual abuse of children. Categories B and C involve less serious forms of indecent imagery. However, each category represents the sexual exploitation of children and is a serious criminal offence.
District Judge Amanda Kelly pointed out that investigators discovered a total of 178 Category A images, as well as 105 Category B images; 2649 Category C images; three extreme pornographic images and one prohibited image of a child. The judge said that when questioned by the police following his arrest, Powell “initially denied knowingly seeking out these sorts of images for your own sexual gratification and suggested that you may have inadvertently received these images on your devices because you had used an Artificial Intelligence software programme that removes clothes from images you have downloaded from Instagram.”
However, the athlete then admitted he had obtained sexual gratification from images of children and pleaded guilty to all offences, avoiding the need for a trial. “You are 34 years of age and a person who has achieved prominence internationally due to your participation in the urban sporting activity known as Parkour. I am told that you had 11 million YouTube followers and that your Parkour videos have been viewed billions of time across the globe,” the judge told Powell.
Sentencing Powell, Ms Kelly added: “The Sentencing Guidelines, which I am required to follow, indicate that a custodial sentence of one year or less is appropriate in this case. Some may find it difficult to understand why offending of such a repugnant nature does not result in immediate imprisonment.
“However, judges do not sentence according to personal opinion, public pressure or public outrage. They sentence according to the law enacted by Parliament and the Sentencing Guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council. Applying those principles faithfully to the facts of this case, I am satisfied that the custodial term of one year should be suspended for a period of 12 months, as recommended by the pre-sentence report.”
The judge said Powell will be subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register for a period of 10 years. Alongside his placement on the Sex Offenders Register, the court imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) lasting five years.
Ms Kelly also ordered “the forfeiture and deprivation of the devices upon which the indecent images were found.” Powell has been ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and the statutory surcharge of £187, and will have to undertake 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
Immediately after Powell pleaded guilty to all charges in May, STORROR terminated his involvement and released a statement calling his actions a “betrayal of trust.” After he was sentenced on Friday, STORROR released another statement which read, “On 17th July, Callum Powell was sentenced for offences of possession of indecent images of children. He pleaded guilty to these offences in May this year.
“Our thoughts are with the children who are harmed by offences by this kind, and with the families and organisations working to protect them. We are truly sorry for the harm caused by Callum’s conduct. We recognise that no statement from us can undo that harm.”
They added: “STORROR exists to inspire and support young people. What Callum admitted to is a betrayal of that purpose and of the trust placed in this team by our audience. Callum was removed from STORROR immediately when we learned of his offending, and he has not been involved with the company since.
“We know many of you have questions about what happens next for STORROR. We will share more about the road ahead on Monday.”
STORROR was originally founded by brothers Max Cave and Benj Cave alongside Drew Taylor. They were later joined by Toby Segar, Sacha Powell, Josh Burnett-Blake, and Powell. Over the past 16 years, the world-famous collective has grown from a group of friends filming rooftop videos into a massive global brand, pioneering professional parkour content creation.
Parkour UK – which Powell has no affiliation with – also released a statement saying: “Parkour UK is appalled by the offences admitted by Callum Powell at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 7 May. There can be no such place for this abhorrent behaviour, and our thoughts are with all those affected.
“We condemn any action which abuses positions of power and influence to exploit the vulnerable. Safeguarding is fundamental to our sport, and we take our responsibilities in this area seriously. We remind all who are involved in Parkour that they can contact our safeguarding team to report or discuss any issues or concerns within the community confidentially via this form on our website, this can be done completely anonymously.”
