Indecent images found when police raided home

AN “ISOLATED” supermarket worker spent a decade downloading videos and pictures of children as young as 12 months old being sexually abused, a court has heard.

Ryan Preece was found with more than 1,400 indecent images on his mobile phones and computer hard drive when police raided his house.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the 46-year-old dad-of-one has also admitted sharing child abuse images with like-minded people.

A judge told Preece he was in no doubt the defendant had a “deeply rooted, unhealthy sexual interest in children”, and said it was difficult for any right-thinking person to understand how people could view the kind of images the defendant had downloaded “for their own perverted sexual pleasure”.

Jeffrey Jones, prosecuting, said that in July last year police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s house in Ebbw Vale.

A number of electronic devices were seized, and when the defendant was asked if officers would find any indecent images on them he replied “dunno”, adding: “I have seen them online.”

A subsequent examination of the phones and computers found 1,421 videos and pictures amassed over the course of a decade. Among the images were 552 in Category A showing the most extreme kinds of sexual abuse.

A further examination of the devices found internet searches had been carried out to find indecent material, and also that distribution had taken place via messaging and trading apps.

The court heard that when Preece was asked why he had downloaded and viewed the images he replied “morbid curiosity”.

The prosecutor said a dozen videos showing extreme pornography – bestiality – were also uncovered although “regrettably” there was no charge relating to this offending, and he noted that while Preece had made admissions about sharing indecent images he had only been charged with distributing a single image.

Also on the devices were more than 2,300 pictures of fully clothed children of various ages which Mr Jones said were indicative of the defendant having an interest in youngsters.

Preece, of Hughes Avenue, Ebbw Vale, had previously pleaded guilty to making – that is possessing – indecent images of children of Categories A, B and C, and to distributing a Category A image when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Adam Sharp, for Preece, said the defendant lived alone and had worked all his life in supermarkets Kwik Save, Tesco and, latterly, Morrisons.

He said Preece had led a largely “nocturnal life” working predominantly night shifts for the retailers, and that the Covid pandemic may have exacerbated his “loneliness and isolation”.

The barrister said Preece knew he had brought shame on himself and his parents – to whom the barrister said his client was “devoted” – and was taking steps to address the issues in his life.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins said he was in no doubt that Preece had a “deeply rooted, unhealthy sexual interest in children”.

He told the defendant: “It is difficult for any right-thinking person to understand how people like you can view such images for their own perverted sexual pleasure.”

The judge said that having read reports on the defendant he had come to the conclusion that the best course of action was to try to rehabilitate him.

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Preece was sentenced to a total of two years in prison, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and 120 hours of unpaid work.

He will be a registered sex offender for 10 years, and was made the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order to manage his access to the internet.