Teenager took images as girl, 3, sexually assaulted
A TEENAGER was found to be making indecent images of a child aged three following an in-depth police investigation.
Nathan Fu, now 19, was initially investigated in December 2019 by officers at the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NMEC) in America, who informed police in the UK that a person was uploading indecent images of children online. GMP then received information that Fu, of Salford, had taken the images rather than just downloading them, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The images showed a young female child, aged around three years old, being sexually assaulted.
Officers executed a search warrant at Fu’s home and recovered a laptop and three mobile phones.
The computer and two mobile phones were found to contain the vile images of children.
Other images of the same child were recovered, shown to be taken on different dates, the court heard.
Gavin Howie, prosecuting, said a bag of children’s underwear was also found under the defendant’s bed during the search, plus a ‘homemade’ female mannequin dressed in underwear.
In interview, Fu denied sexual assault of a child and denied taking any indecent images of children. He told officers the mannequin doll was for comfort as he was ‘lonely.’
The indecent images contained hands of an adult male and were later analysed by a forensic anthropologist, who concluded that those hands were Fu’s.
Mr Howie told the court that the defendant’s electronic devices also contained pseudo-indecent images of children, where innocent images had been digitally manipulated to make them explicit in nature. In total, 58 category A images were found – said to be the worst type – along with 87 category B images, 313 category C images and 201 prohibited images of children.
The images were downloaded over a three year period and the children depicted were between the ages of two and 16.
Fu later pleaded guilty to making indecent/pseudo images of children and assaulting a girl under 13 by penetration. He was said to have no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Nicholas Clarke said: “The victim was three at the time, and she will have no memory of this. There was no physical harm caused.
“A psychological report concluded that there is a combination of psychological and personality problems and labelled them as ‘chronic.’”
He said treatment was needed to reduce the risk of these issues intensifying. Fu will be sentenced on October 29.