August 2014
Devon man with 4,000 indecent images of children escapes jail
A MAN has escaped jail after being caught with nearly 4,000 indecent images of children on his computer.
Nicholas Russell appeared at Plymouth Crown Court after pleading guilty to seven counts of making indecent images of children, ranging from category A – the most explicit – to category C, between November 2010 and Jan 2014.
The court head Russell, 24, who gave his address as a bail hostel in Stonehouse,was already made subject of a Sex Offenders Prevention Order when a support worker attended his address and discovered images on Russell’s computer.
Crown prosecutor Alistair Verheijen said police were called and the computer was taken away for analysis. Interrogation of the computer found 28 stills of category A, 35 stills of category B and 3,849 stills at category C. The images were found across the computer, including in its live files as well as deleted and cached files.
Mr Verheijen told the court that during interview with police Russell was open about having “an interest in young male children”.
The court heard that in 2008 Russell was handed a community order after committing a sexual assault on a male under the age of 13.
In July 2011 he was jailed for 12 months for breaching a SOPO.
His advocate Ali Rafati said Russell was deemed to have Asperger syndrome – a form of autism – as well as mental health problems. He added that Russell was a “young man with a particularly low IQ”, noting that it was recorded at 63.
Mr Rafati said: “Less than 70 would cover the bottom two percent of the population.
“Between 60 and 70 the person is described as educationally the age of an eight or nine year old.”
As a result, Russell was not suitable to be placed on a number of programmes aimed to help sex offenders change their behaviour.
He noted that while in prison Russell had been bullied and assaulted. In addition, he was deaf in one ear and virtually deaf in the other.
Mr Rafati added: “He would be a very vulnerable prisoner. He is a man who desperately needs help.”
Judge Paul Darlow told Russell: “You are a very worrying individual. You are quite unable to recognise the harm done to children whose images appear on those you choose to collect.
“I don’t accept that you aren’t someone who goes looking. You do. The searches on your computer show me that.”
He noted how a probation report found Russell to be a “very high risk of serious harm to male children”.
However, he noted how the offences for which he was to be sentenced were for “non contact offences” and he could not “overlook the plain vulnerabilities you have in getting through your everyday life”.
He asked: “If I take a chance on you and don’t put you away will you do what you are ordered. Will you live where they tell you to live, attend anyone they tell you to.”
Russell, wearing a court-issued amplifier headphones, answered quietly “Yes, I do.”
Judge Darlow sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a two year supervision requirement.
He also passed an indefinite SOPO and ordered Russell to be put onto the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years. He also barred Russell from working with children and young people.
