A haul of photographs found on a Warminster paedophile’s computer included lewd photographs of children featuring the superimposed head of a 12-year-old girl he knew, as well as clandestine snaps of schoolchildren.
Gardener Lester Carpenter, 48, of Portway, admitted nine counts of making indecent photographs and one count of possessing indecent photographs and was sentenced to a community order at Swindon Crown Court on Friday, part of which orders him to take part in a sex offenders’ programme.
Carpenter was arrested at home on May 20, 2008, as part of Operation Lancer, which targets people downloading child porn.
A total of 5,578 indecent images were found on his computer, dating from February 2005 to May 2008, of which 4,626 were level one, 185 were level two, 211 were level three, 344 were level four and 12 were at level five – the most severe kind.
On 12 level one photos, Carpenter had superimposed the head of a girl he knew.
Simon Brenchley, prosecuting, said the girl felt ‘physically sick’ when she found out and said she would never speak to him again.
As well as 69 movies, police also found a memory stick featuring pictures of schoolgirls the prosecution described as ‘going about their everyday business’.
Simon Brenchley, prosecuting, said: “The defendant admitted he had downloaded indecent images of children and had been downloading these images for about two years.”
Alex Daymond, defending, said: “This defendant has tried to get on with his life – he runs his own gardening business.
“If the public are to be protected from this defendant something needs to be done to change his behaviour.”
Judge Douglas Field said: “The eight level four images are really dreadful. The number in total is 5,578 indecent images of children. It’s a sad feature of these sort of cases that this number is not unusual.
“The public interest in this case is that you resolve these deep seated problems.”
Carpenter was sentenced to a three-year community order and told to attend the Thames Valley Sex Offenders Programme.
He was disqualified for working with children for an indefinite period, and has been put on the sex offenders register for five years. He was also ordered to pay £250 costs.
