FASCINATION and escapism were the reasons a lonely man downloaded child porn from the internet, a court heard.
Wayne Crompton, of Blakewood Court, Anerley Park, Penge, was given a three-year community order at Bromley Magistrates’ Court on July 19 for possessing indecent photographs of children.
The 45-year-old was also ordered to go on a three-year treatment programme and put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.
Crompton pleaded guilty to 12 charges of possessing images categorised as level one, two, three and four – on a scale where level one is the least serious and five is the most serious.
Police arrested the freelance kitchen designer after an internet service provider address was identified as sharing indecent images and later proved to be his.
When police raided Crompton’s flat, they found two computer towers on to which images from the Lime Wire file sharing software site had been downloaded.
Robert Rye, mitigating, said Crompton had been suffering depression brought on by alcohol, his father’s Alzheimer’s and a relationship breakdown.
He said: “There was no sexual motivation. It was more of a release and a fascination with what was out there on the internet.”
District Judge Paul Carr recognised Crompton’s early guilty plea and the fact he was independently seeking support from The Lucy Faithfull Foundation – a child protection charity specialising in protecting children from sexual abuse.
However, he added: “Your explanation for viewing these images isn’t plausible. To be merely curious you would not have gone back time and again.”
