September 2013
Former Sedbury man had more than 12,000 indecent images of children
A FORMER Chepstow man was caught with almost 12,000 child porn images on his computers, a court heard.
Judge Jamie Tabor QC told Paul Holland there was no other word to describe the images, two of which were at the most serious level 5, than ‘filth.’
Holland, 45, formerly of Edmund Road, Sedbury, admitted eleven charges of making or possessing indecent images of children.
Gloucester Crown Court heard his marriage broke up as a result of his offences being discovered and he has moved to Clevedon, Somerset.
Judge Tabor, QC, said: ” Your life is frankly in a mess as a result, unsurprisingly.
“No psychologist has yet explained why men of your particular age are vulnerable to look at this type of imagery. I don’t pretend to know the answer – but what I do know is that it is terribly wrong.”
Holland was found to have 11,530 level one images, 82 level two, 13 level three, 30 level four and two level five.
He told police he had viewed the images because he was ‘curious after media publicity resulting from Operation Yew Tree’. However, further analysis of the images showed he had been viewing them for far longer than the 12 months he admitted to.
Tim Burrows, defending, said that since his arrest Holland had already gone at his own expense to the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a child protection charity, and was receiving therapy.
Holland was given a three year community order with a condition to attend the Thames Valley sex offender course.
He was also placed on the sex offences register for ten years and the judge made a five year sex offences prevention order barring him from contact with children under 18.
In addition his computer equipment will be destroyed and he will pay £200 costs and a £60 surcharge.
