Abuse pictures man is spared jail to ‘find purpose’

A JUDGE told an Earl Shilton man who was addict- ed to images of child abuse he was being spared prison in the hope he would find a new purpose in life.

Unemployed university graduate Benjamin Walker, 29, was found in possession of more than 4,000 images and video clips showing the abuse of young children.

He went on to appear at Leicester Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children.

Appearing at the city’s crown court for sentencing, Judge Nicholas Dean told Walker he had read a letter from his brother, Alec Walker, setting out the difficulty the defendant had in finding a meaning in life.

The judge said: “Your brother’s letter is as sensitive and intelligent as one might expect and he has a clear insight into the problems you have had.

“You seem to have had a rather long-standing issue with pornography and access to illicit images of children.

“Your life seems to have drifted since you went to university.

“You don’t seem to have had purpose or focus in your life and I hope pornography did not substitute for direction in your life.

“Thankfully you have recognised the problem you have got and you were very frank and open with the police and have indicated your wish to get help.”

The judge said that people caught with such images usually received jail terms but that they could be better treated in the community if they showed signs of wanting help.

Walker three-year received a community order, which will include a 90-day sex offender programme.

He will also be subject to a sexual harm protection order for five years.

He said: “I hope the rehabilitation will assist you in finding some purpose in your life because it seems to me that’s what you badly need.”

Earlier in the hearing prosecutor Leanne Summers told the judge that police had initially gone to the home of Walker’s brother, Daniel, on the evening of October 25 last year.

They had raced illicit online activity to Daniel’s home computer’s IP address.

That led to the defendant, of Avenue South, Earl Shilton, who had recently been using his brother’s computer to download porn.

The defendant had his own computer seized by officers and was arrested.

On it, the officers found 27 category A images, which feature the worst kind of child abuse, as well as 332 images and videos they classed as category B and a further 3,897 category C.

They had been downloaded at various times between September 2002, when the defendant was just 15, and earlier in 2016.

Walker told police he had an interest in girls aged as young as 10 and had contacted a foundation that helped people deal addictions to child abuse images.

John Hallisey, representing the defendant, urged the judge to give Walker a community sentence rather than prison so that he could get help.

He said: “It’s plain he needs support and the probation service can provide it.”