Man, 41, avoids jail after downloading over 200 child sex abuse images

A Northamptonshire man has been given a suspended prison sentence after police discovered over 200 indecent images of children on his phone.

Simon Anderson, aged 41, of Poplar Close, Daventry, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday, August 23 after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children and one count of possessing extreme explicit images.

Helen Easterbrook, prosecuting, said the defendant was arrested in November 2018 and denied accessing or downloading such images when interviewed by police. After failing to give officers the correct passcode to his phone, police recovered 267 child abuse still and moving images from the phone’s SD card that had been accumulated from July 2015 to March 2018.

The court heard that, in addition to the child abuse images, there was 27 images portraying extreme acts including sexual interference with dead and live animals and a human corpse.

Ms Easterbrook said: “Aggravating features include the age and vulnerability of the children being depicted. They ranged from babies to young teenagers and included 262 video files showing them in discernable pain and distress.”

Anderson claimed he never searched for the content but the court heard that all images were downloaded as a single file, where 74 per cent of the content compiled the indecent material.

Ms Easterbrook added: “It’s difficult how that would come up if he was searching for something else.”

Anderson has one previous conviction for drink-driving in 2013.

Mark Savage, in mitigation, said: “To have acted in this way, has filled him with absolute horror. He is aware he needs help.”

The defence barrister said that Anderson used alcohol as a way to cope with stress and that is where his self-restraint is lost. He said that court proceedings have been hanging over his client “very heavily” since his arrest around four years ago.

Mr Savage added: “This was a huge error of judgement and a huge mistake.

“He is a man who works hard. He is a gentleman of good candour, who can benefit from the courses available and make reparations to society.”

Her Honour Judge Adrienne Lucking said: “It is a bit more than an error of judgement. It was more than a brief mistake.”

Addressing Anderson, Judge Lucking continued: “Something went wrong in your life in 2013 and, after your conviction for drink-driving when you were using alcohol to cope with stress, you became clearly distorted.

“What you did do was look at adult pornography and then stray into darker material on the internet, including indecent images of children and extreme pornography.”

The court heard that, as Anderson has not reoffended since his arrest, there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and an immediate custodial sentence would have a detrimental effect on dependent relatives.

Anderson was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years. He was ordered to carry out 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days, 100 hours of unpaid work in the community and a Sex Offenders programme.

He was furthermore served with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which will last for seven years.