December 2014
Carer caught with 2,000 indecent pictures of boys aged as young as 4 is spared jail
A CARER was caught with more than 2,000 indecent images of boys aged as young as four.
John Thompson, who is a carer for his elderly mother, had been collecting the stills and movies for 10 years, Newcastle Crown Court was told.
Kevin Wardlaw, prosecuting, told the court how the images, totalling 2,071, ranged from category A to category C.
He said: “On January 7 this year, police searched the defendant’s address after they received information from child protection agencies.
“The defendant was arrested and interviewed twice, he stated that all the images belonged to him and described them as ‘porn’. During the second interview he admitted that all the images had been downloaded by him and that he was unlawfully in possession of them.”
The court also heard how Thompson used search terms such as “teens” and “cross-dressing boys”.
Judge Penny Moreland described the images as depicting “pre-pubescent, pubescent and post-pubescent boys”, but said that none of the images showed boys in any physical pain.
Thompson, 57, of Darwin Street, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to all seven counts of making and possessing indecent photographs of children, and one count of possessing unlawful images.
Jonathan Devlin, defending, described Thompson as of previous good character.
He told the court: “There is no suggestion that Thompson meant to distribute these images, nor is there any suggestion that he attempted to make contact with any children.”
Thompson was ordered to sign the sex offender’s register and will no longer be allowed unsupervised contact with children under 16.
He was granted a three-year community order by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court, but spared jail.
