Spared jail, the Eton boy caught with 1,000 child abuse images
AN ETON College pupil who asked children to undress for him on webcam in return for ‘ appalling’ videos of child abuse has been spared jail.
Andrew Picard was just 17 when he was caught sharing graphic child sex images over skype films with an undercover policeman posing as a 14-year-old boy.
The ‘privileged’ schoolboy, who is the son of a top London lawyer, was found to have a vile stash of more than 1,000 photos and videos on his computer at the boarding school in Berkshire.
some of the material was described by the judge as ‘so appalling, frankly I can’t bring myself to read it out’.
Picard was arrested at Eton in February last year for sharing explicit material, including the abuse of babies and toddlers. He had messaged the undercover officer from his school dormitory, asking: ‘Do you want to see pics of boys and girls your age, nude?’
He boasted about having hundreds of videos and shared indecent images of a boy aged ten and girls aged eight and 14.
Asking the officer to prove he was aged 14 and not some ‘old’ man, Picard then shared a video of his own face. His IP address led police to the prestigious boarding school.
Picard, now 18, choked back tears as he was spared jail yesterday after the judge heard he had been successfully receiving ther- apy for the past 12 months. He was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to ten months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months with requirements for supervision and mental health treatment.
Judge Peter ross said: ‘Quite how you found your way into this appalling world is not clear to me. You were seeking to obtain your own sexual gratification from the exchanges you had.
‘You boasted in chatlogs about the quality of the material you could provide.’
Picard’s wealthy family live next to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
Judge ross added: ‘It has been said that you and your family has suffered deeply as a result of your arrest and public exposure. You have taken steps to deal with your offending and you have been receiving a considerable degree of treatment and assistance.
‘If I were to send you to custody, I would undo all that has been done over the last year.’
In Picard’s bedroom, police found a laptop, a hard drive and a thumb drive containing at least 1,185 videos and 195 deleted or inaccessible files. One of his videos showed a girl as young as three being raped, while others showed young children being forced to have sex with dogs.
Chatlogs revealed he had shared footage with eight skype users, including the undercover officer.
Prosecutor Cathy Olliver said: ‘Mr Picard would offer to send images in return for the child on the other end undressing or showing their armpits or groin.
‘In other chat, he confirms he has a library of images, pictures of babies and young girls.’
Picard, who has no previous convictions, had been diagnosed with acute depressive episodes and anxiety, the court heard.
His lawyer sallie BennettJenkins QC said: ‘He is a young man who has hopes for the future. He has every intention of maintaining his contact with the doctor.’
Picard, from Westminster, admitted one count of possessing indecent images of children for show, one count of making indecent photos of children, and eight counts of distributing indecent photos of children.
He was ordered to pay £1,200 costs and given a five-year sexual harm prevention order.