May 2013

Changing face of child sex images sicko

A CONVICTED sex offender who breached the terms of a court order less than two weeks after leaving prison has escaped a second jail term – even though indecent images of children were found on his computer. 

Stephen Clark, 59, of Friern Gardens in Wickford, was jailed for 30 months in May 2011 after pleading guilty to downloading and sharing almost 5 million images of child sex abuse. 

BEARD: Clark as he looked when he was tracked down just two weeks ago

SHAVED: Clark arrives at court on Wednesday

Prosecutors described the haul as the second largest seizure of child abuse images in UK history. 

Clark served 13 months of his prison sentence and was released in August 2012. 

He appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Wednesday to be sentenced for breaching the terms of his Sexual Offences Prevention Order just 13 days after his release. 

Clark was released from prison on August 2, 2012. Police visited his address on August 15 and discovered that he had connected a computer to the internet. 

The court order banned Clark from using the internet on any computer which could not be monitored by police. 

Prosecutor Charles Langley told the court on Wednesday that indecent images had also been discovered on the computer – but the Crown Prosecution Service did not charge Clark over the images because they could not determine when he had downloaded them.

Clark was jailed in 2011 after pleading guilty to nine counts of downloading and sharing extreme pornography and child sex images. 

The self-employed computer systems analyst traded the images using a ‘very sophisticated computer set-up’ and told cops he had collected the images for 20 years as a ‘hobby’. 

He told police: “It’s a bit like collecting cigarette cards or snuff boxes or something like that.” 

He was arrested in September 2009 after a German police investigation found his computer had accessed a website containing child abuse images. 

Clark’s three computers were still uploading and downloading illegal images when police arrived to arrest him. 

Analysis of the computers found 4.6million illegal images. 

The court heard on Wednesday that Clark continued to work as a computer analyst, charging £415 plus VAT a day for his services. 

When prosecutor Mr Langley asked presiding judge John Lodge to order the destruction of Mr Clark’s computer, defence barrister Howard Cohen launched a bid to allow the defendant to keep it. 

Mr Cohen claimed that Clark had important work saved on the computer – a claim Mr Langley rebuffed. 

Mr Langley said: “I don’t know how much work there would have been. He had only been released for 13 days. There are indecent images of children on this computer and we are very anxious that they are destroyed as soon as possible.” 

Judge Lodge sentenced Clark to a six-month prison sentence, suspended for a year. He ordered Clark to pay £300 towards prosecution costs and said he would adjourn his decision on the computer for 28 days.

April 2013

Man who downloaded almost five million images of child abuse ‘as a hobby’ commits offence just 13 days after being released from prison

A MAN who amassed the second-largest collection of child sex abuse images ever seized by UK police committed an offence less than two weeks after his release from prison. 

Stephen Clark, 59 – who lived in Brentwood before he was jailed in May 2011 for downloading almost five million illegal images – breached a Sexual Offences Prevention Order just 13 days after being released on licence. 

The order banned Clark from using the internet on any computer which did not have monitoring software on it, so officials could ensure he did not continue accessing sex abuse images. 

However, police caught him with a computer hooked up to the internet during an unannounced visit to his home. 

He admitted the breach at Basildon Magistrates Court last week. 

He will be sentenced at Crown Court in May. 

Clark was sentenced to 30 months in prison in May 2011 after pleading guilty to nine counts of downloading and sharing extreme pornography and child sex images. 

A self-employed computer systems analyst, he traded the images using a ‘very sophisticated computer set-up’ and told cops he had used his expertise to hide his crimes from his wife and children. 

He told police he had collected the images for 20 years as a ‘hobby’ but said it had ‘become an obsession’. 

He told cops: “It’s a bit like collecting cigarette cards or snuff boxes or something like that. I call it a library.” 

He was arrested in September 2009 after a German police investigation found his computer had accessed a website containing child abuse images. 

When police swooped on his house, he told them: “I’ll put my hands up. I’ll come clean. I’ve got a problem. I collected. It doesn’t hurt anyone.” 

Clark’s three computers were still uploading and downloading illegal images when police arrived to arrest him. 

When interviewed by police, he maintained that downloading and sharing child sex images were victimless crimes. 

Analysis of the computers found 4.6 million illegal images. 

Clark, currently of Friern Gardens in Wickford, appeared at Basildon Magistrates Court on Thursday, April 18, to admit breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order. 

The court heard that Clark originally claimed that a probation officer had told him he was allowed to hook the computer up to the internet, but admitted he was lying when he heard the claim would be tested in a trial of issue. 

A defence lawyer for Clark said the breach had been a ‘complete oversight’ and could be dealt with by a Magistrates Court. 

However, District Judge John Woollard told Clark that he did not feel he had sufficient powers to deal with such a serious breach. 

He referred the case to Crown Court, where Clark will be sentenced in May.