November 2007

Child porn man spared jail term

A former Snaith man and the husband of a childminder has been spared jail after police found pornographic photos of children as young as five on his computer.

Nicholas Wilson (41), formerly of Oakdale Close, Snaith and now of Batley, appeared at Goole Magistrates’ Court on Friday charged with six counts of possessing indecent images of children, which included photographs and a nine-minute video. He had previously pleaded guilty to all the charges.

The court heard that between September 7, 2006 and December 15, 2006, Mr Wilson had on his computer 36 images which were rated between levels one to four on a scale used to determine the seriousness of the images. Level five is the most serious.

Giving examples of the kind of images Phillip Evans, for the Crown Prosecution Service, described the video, which was rated level two.

“It shows a naked female child of around 12, posing in an erotic manner and masturbating herself at one point in the movie,” he said.

A level three image showed a girl’s face in the groin area of a naked man and a level four image, a naked girl of around five in a similar area. These are indicative of the levels of materials found.”

In total, 27 level one images were found, two level two images, four level three and three level four.

Mr Evans said that in a police interview, Mr Wilson had admitted obtaining indecent images from file sharing sites.

He also told them that he had done it about two years ago, and deleted everything about 14 months ago. This was disputed by the prosecution, who said that downloads had been made during that period.

“He denies any sexual interest in children,” Mr Evans said. “He said: ‘I’m not a paedophile‘.”

The court heard that the images remained on the computer, and were not printed out. There was no evidence to suggest he attempted to distribute them, or to pay for them or take payment for them.

Defending, Shaun Pinchbeck said that Mr Wilson, a former Goole Grammar School pupil, had no previous convictions.

Until Mr Wilson was arrested, his wife had been working as a childminder, and Mr Pinchbeck produced statements from her clients.

One of them said: “I never felt my children or Nick’s children were compromised.”

Mr Pinchbeck said: “These are extremely serious offences. My client is well aware of that and he accepts that what he did is wholly wrong.”

He pointed out: “Most of the images are at the lowest levels.”

Magistrates viewed a sample of the images before retiring to consider Mr Wilson’s sentence.

They ordered him to undergo a three-year community order, which includes a supervision order and completing a sex offender programme.

He was also sentenced to a five year Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

The conditions of this include not using the internet for anything other than for work, studying or seeking employment and not being involved in any kind of work which brings him into contact with children.

He will also be required to register as a sex offender with the police for five years.

His computer equipment and anything associated with it will be destroyed and he will pay £70 in court costs.