Man downloaded 2,200 indecent child images
APERVERT who downloaded more than 2,200 indecent photographs of chil- dren over a four-year period has been warned he faces jail.
Burnley Crown Court heard that 58-year-old Mark Stephen Steel downloaded 336 category A indecent photographs of children – the most serious category – along with making 165 category B and 1,717 category C photographs.
He was also caught distributing indecent images of children and in possession a prohibited photograph of a child.
Steele, of Edleston Street, Accrington, also was caught in possession of 141 extreme pornographic images, a court was told
Steel pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs, six counts of distributing indecent images and one count each of possessing a prohibited image and extreme pornography.
He will be sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Friday, November 10.
He was ordered to sign the sex offenders register and bailed with conditions not to have unsu- pervised contact with any child under 16, except with the permission of social services, and not to contact any child under 16 via social media.
Kathryn Johnson, defending, said she was awaiting an ‘appropriate and necessary’ psychiatric report before the sentencing hearing.
She told the court: “The defendant accepts responsibility for the offending outlined in the indictment.
“They are downloading indecent images of children of the various categories. I anticipate that Your Honour may well require a pre-sentence report given the nature of the offending.
“I’m also informed by those that instruct me that they have put steps in motion to obtain a psychiatric report.
“The solicitor who has had conduct of the case feels that is an appropriate and necessary report.
“I would ask that sentence be adjourned to allow that to happen.”
Judge Jonathan Gibson agreed but warned Steel: “You have pleaded guilty to serious offences and that is self-evident by the nature of the charges.
“Given the nature of the offences and the sentencing guidelines an immediate custodial sentence is of course very likely.
“The reports may help me with the length of the sentence if nothing else.”