January 2015
Man, 77, jailed after accessing child abuse images on the internet for second time
A 77-year-old man who accessed child abuse images on the internet was jailed for two years and three months.
It is the second time Alan Potter has been prosecuted for possessing indecent images of youngsters
In 2010 he was given a 12 week suspended sentence, with a 10 year sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) banning him from having computers or internet accounts without notifying the police, for monitoring purposes.
Potter, formerly of Henray Avenue, Glen Parva, admitted downloading three indecent images between September 9, 2013 and January last year.
He also pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching the SOPO between May 2011 and January last year, by covertly keeping a laptop computer, with software to wipe traces of the illegal content, and a broadband account – without registering them with Leicestershire Police.
At Leicester Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: “Your daughter has written a very touching letter to the court on your behalf and it’s clear she loves you very much.
“You’ve let her down.
“In 2010 you were given a short suspended sentence for possessing indecent images of children and a SOPO was in place for 10 years.
“Very shortly after that order was imposed you breached it and I take the view you did so deliberately knowing what you were doing was wrong.
“You acquired computer equipment and a broadband account primarily because you wanted to pursue your sexual interest in children.
“You acquired sophisticated deletion software to cover your tracks and you lied (to the police) about your acquisition of a computer.
“It’s clear you were regularly accessing child pornography sites albeit you only fall to be sentenced for three indecent images (that had not been deleted).
The judge imposed a new SOPO for the rest of Potter’s life, restricting his future computer use which will be monitored by the police.
Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said that after Potter’s prosecution for similar matters in 2010 he was considered a “low risk” and the police visited him once a year.
Potter denied having a computer until his supervising officer found his laptop – and three illegal images were found on it.
Two programmes installed for deleting material and search history were installed and both had been used to wipe content in the previous week.
Vasanti Vaitha, mitigating, said: “It’s accepted these offences are aggravated by his previous conviction.
“He would welcome any assistance from any agency concerning addressing his offending.”
