January 2015
Man who sent indecent images of children from his Northampton home given three-year community order
A 58-year-old man who has admitted distributing indecent images of children from a computer at his Northampton home, has avoided a jail sentence.
Alan Jelf was found to be in possession of more than 100 images of extreme pornography and 41 indecent images of children after police seized a computer from his address in Grange Park, Northampton.
Analysis of a memory stick by officers found extreme pornography that portrayed, in an explicit and realistic way, an act that was likely to result in serious injury to a woman.
Jelf was also found to possess eight indecent images of children that were in the highest category of seriousness.
In interview, Jelf admitted that he had distributed some of the indecent images to people he had met in internet chat rooms.
Ben Gow, prosecuting, said Jelf told investigating officers he had found the images upsetting and was intending to hand them over to police.
Mr Gow said Jelf admitted that he had used internet sex chat rooms for the past eight years and had passed on indecent images of children as part of a “role play” where he pretended to be a teenage girl.
He said: “The defendant said he wanted to understand the psychology of why people looked at these indecent images.
“He said he engaged in a research topic. He said he was appalled by the images and did not agree with what they were doing.”
Mr Gow said that Jelf claimed in interview that he had the extreme pornographic images because he did not realise they were illegal.
Judge Lynn Tayton QC, said she did not accept Jelf’s explanation for possessing the images and distributing them.
She said: “This was not stupidity or idiocy.
“There was sexual depravity involved in these images of children that have a long-term effect for those involved.”
Judge Tayton sentenced Jelf to a community order of three years. He must complete the community sex offender programme and he will be on the sex offender register for the next five years.
He must pay costs of £500 and victim surcharge of £60.
