Wedding snapper hubby is a paedo
WIFE’S HORROR AT MAN WHO HID VILE COMPUTER STASH
WEDDING photographer Phil Davidson trawled sickening images of abused children while his wife thought he was editing pictures of newlyweds.
Unsuspecting Donna Winchester only learned the truth after a police raid a week before Christmas.
Her paedophile husband had been using vile search terms to download hundreds of abuse videos featuring children as young as 18 months old.
Davidson, 40, was jailed last September. But he has been released – and mum-of-two Donna, 38, is horrified that he walked free so soon.
She said: “Police reassured me there is no suggestion that he abused our children, but it still sickens me that their dad is so dangerous.
“There is no justification for what he did. The phrases he searched made my stomach turn. I feel guilt that I didn’t realise what he was doing.
“He had the perfect cover with his wedding photography.
“All those nights he said he was editing pictures – it sickens me to think what he was actually doing.”
Davidson, who also worked as a bus driver, was held after police linked his IP address to obscene downloads.
Donna said she should have seen signs something was wrong during their 14-year marriage.
She said his once-loving personality changed after they got engaged in 2000. He became distant and stayed up all night playing video games.
But their relationship improved and they started a family as Donna convinced herself to stand by him. Davidson became a wedding photographer and started staying up late – saying he was editing pictures.
Donna, a former PA, now believes that was a cover for his crimes.
She said: “Once our baby was born in 2004, he’d lie in bed all day and sit on the computer all night. He never seemed to enjoy our family time. It made me feel so insecure.”
Messages
In 2011 they started leading separate lives after Donna found text messages revealing a string of affairs.
They agreed to put on a united front for their kids’ sake – despite the drain on Donna’s emotions and wellbeing.
She continued: “I tried to rekindle that spark, but he always rejected me.
“I get upset about how brainwashed I was. It all started so small and subtle, chipping away bits here and there until he was eroding whole chunks. By then, it’s too late and you’re so worn down that you feel weak.”
Donna told how the front door of their home in Medway, Kent, shuddered as police raided their home at 6am on December 19, 2016.
She added: “I went downstairs to see a swarm of police talking to Phil.
“He wouldn’t meet my eye, his face plastered with that same guilty look he’d worn when I confronted him about his cheating. I thought, ‘What on earth have you done?’ Police told me somebody had been downloading illegal material from our IP address.
“An officer plugged something into Phil’s laptop to do a scan and he was deathly quiet. He was led off and a detective told me they’d found enough evidence to arrest him on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.
“He gave me a look as if to say, ‘Don’t tell them anything’. He was delusional thinking I’d still be loyal.”
Donna handed over all of Davidson’s devices, then took the kids to a friend’s while officers combed the house.
Davidson pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and claimed seeing the pain of abused children relieved his own depression.
Jailing him for 16 months, with 10 years on the sex offenders’ register, Judge Adele Williams said: “The search terms you were using leave no doubt about the sort of images you were seeking. Some were babies.” Davidson was freed after eight months, adding to Donna’s stress levels. She said: “I have an awful lot of anxiety around that. “In my mind, there’s been no time for rehabilitation or counselling.” But at least Donna’s own life has a new focus. She is divorced and has found love again as she and her kids rebuild their lives. Some of Davidson’s wedding clients told of their shock at his crimes. Bride Rachael Tyson said: “We have a two-year-old. What he did makes me sick to the pit of my stomach. How can 16 months be enough?”