Voyeur’s collection of abuse images found on discarded SD card
A paedophile voyeur’s collection of hidden camera pictures was found by chance when a man picked up a discarded SD card near Morrison’s.
But Judge Peter Crabtree spared Paul Shelton an immediate jail sentence, saying it was in the public’s interest for the 42-year-old to be rehabilitated and noting that he had already sought help.
Prosecutor Roderick Blain told Swindon Crown Court that a member of the public had found an SD memory card on April 10 last year.
He loaded the card, which he’d picked up outside Morrison’s in Westbury, into his computer in the hope of finding pictures that might help reunite the card with its owner.
But when he saw what he believed to be indecent images of children stored on the card, he reported the matter to the police.
Stored on the card were a number of images that appeared to have been shot from a hidden camera device as well as other recordings of internet pages showing child sexual abuse material.
Enquiries by the officers led them to Shelton, who was arrested last September as he got off a plane at Gatwick Airport.
It emerged that he had installed a hidden camera devices in his bathroom and recorded three young girls as they were using the toilet. He had also taken a number of upskirting images of girls known to him.
Shelton had recorded a number of short video clips showing the rape of girls as young as five.
In total, he had six category A images, three in category B and 31 in category C. None of the images he’d taken himself were in category A.
Shelton, of Partridge Way, Old Sarum, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to making indecent images of children and voyeurism.
He had previous convictions dating back to the 1990s but none for similar offences.
Judge Crabtree sentenced Shelton to 14 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, noting that immediate custody was not required in order to protect the public, the defendant wanted to work with the probation service and there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.
Shelton must complete 35 rehabilitation activity requirement sessions, 100 hours of unpaid work and a three month curfew.
He was made subject to a 10 year sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.
