Pervert had over 10,000 sick images
APA E D O P H I L E caught with a vast collection of ‘horrific’ child abuse images after cyber cops were alerted to an online account called ‘BearPaedo565’ has been sent down.
Dale Thomas, 31, of Castle View House, East Lane, Runcorn, is now serving four years in prison after pleading guilty to 10 counts – all but one relating to the exploitation of youngsters, ranging from three-to-six months in age up to 13-15 years, and totalling more than 10,000 photographs and videos, some involving animals.
Mike Stephenson, prosecuting, told Chester Crown Court on Friday how police raided sick Thomas’s family home in Ellesmere Port on May 5, 2015, after an image was uploaded to the internet using a gmail address called ‘BearPaedo565’.
Officers seized devices including computers, tablet computers and memory cards.
The haul of horrific content included 10,355 images.
Of those, 1,491 were in the most severe classification of Category A, including 412 videos.
There were 1,382 in Category B, 367 videos, and 7,441 in Category C, 472 of them videos.
Cyberpervert Thomas had also obtained partially naked images of girls aged 13-15, but also a video one of a girl under the age of 13 performing a sex act at his request while he performed an indecent act over a camera at the other end.
Among the 85 minutes of ‘extreme’ prohibited videos in his possession involved a clip of a baby aged around three-six months old being subjected horrendous abuse involving a dog.
Other footage involved a woman and a horse.
He made admissions in custody including that he was attracted to children.
It was discovered that he used social media platforms Instagram, Snapchat and Kik Messenger and also a DropBox facility for obtaining or sharing images.
The case involved multiple victims.
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As well as nine counts of possessing, making and distributing images, he also pleaded guilty to counts of making an indecent video and inciting or attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity in connection with contact he had with children online, and finally one count of possessing two grams of cannabis.
One of the incitement charges related to placing an ‘advertisement’ on social media seeking girls to exchange images of themselves with him, with him offering his own indecent pictures in return.
The offences took place over a period of around six years.
Richard Thomas, appearing as defence counsel, noted the defendant’s guilty pleas and his short criminal record comprising an offence of fare dodging.
Judge Patrick Thompson, presiding, described the horrific nature of the material as ‘beyond belief’, adding that the horrendous details should be produced in open court so the public can grasp how severe the offences are.
He said: “It seems to me that draft note should be produced in open court so people know what people have been looking at for sexual pleasure, it’s horrific.”
He passed concurrent sentences on the images charges but consecutive sentences – but concurrent to each other – on the three incitement counts.
He said he was ‘ not bothered’ about the cannabis charge but branded the images offences ‘horrific’.
Judge Thompson sentenced Dale Thomas to a total of four years in prison and slapped him with an indefinite Sexual Harm Protection Order and placed him on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
The defendant must also pay a victim surcharge and his equipment will be destroyed.
The judge asked for Mr Stephenson to ask the lawyer who drafted the indictment to provide an explanation as to why Thomas had not been charged with a more serious offence of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity instead of making an indecent image, remarking that a longer sentenced would have been available if the defendant had been ‘properly charged’.
During his summingup he said the defendant faced increasing lengths of prison sentence if he did not respond to treatment.
He noted that Thomas had tried to ‘minimise’ his offending by claiming the images ‘popped up’ on his computer
Judge Thompson said: “I don’t accept that, you sought them out.
“I’m afraid you are a paedophile and clearly present a danger to children and it’s important that you do something about it or you will find your future involves longer and longer custodial sentences.”
Report on-line paedophiles to the National Crime Agency and CEOP at communication@nca. gov.uk or call 0370 496 7622.
For advice on protecting children using the internet search online or visit Cheshire police’s advice page.