Robert King sobs as he’s spared jail for possessing thousands of images of child abuse – Somerset Live

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A judge spelled out the hideous depths of depravity and suffering contained in child pornography as he sentenced a 30 year old for possessing sick images.

Robert King sobbed as the judge described images of "very young children, crying in pain and scared" as they were being raped by adult men.

"That is what you've been viewing," Judge Robert Linford told King, of Courtlands, Langford Budville, near Wellington.

"That's what you made other people view when they examined your computer."

Taunton Crown Court heard that King initially denied having illegal material on his computer when police visited his home as a result of a tip-off.

He later admitted a charge of making indecent images of children, possession of extreme pornography and possession of prohibited images of children.

He has been spared jail.

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Prosecutor William Hunter said: "Police seized three devices, a laptop and two computers and went on to find a number of images of child abuse,"

There were 49 category A images and nine movies, 261 category B images and 2,967 category C images and two movies.

They also found extreme pornographic images and pseudo-photographs of children.

"It was also clear from his search history that he had been carrying out online searches for such material," Mr Hunter said.

"Some of the children were estimated to be very young around three or four years old, and clearly distressed at what was happening to them."

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When arrested by police, King said he had been looking at the images out of curiosity.

Defending, Harry Ahuja said his client had no previous convictions and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

He said he had gone on to seek help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which works with child sex offenders and encourages them to seek therapy before being arrested.

When Judge Robert Linford said he was not looking to send King to prison, the defendant burst into tears in the dock.

"You pleaded guilty as early as you could and you have sought help for your actions," the judge told him.

"You had a large amount of hideous images and you understand that these are not victimless crimes. For every photograph you look at of a child being raped, there is a child that has been raped.

"And those are photographs that some poor police office has to trawl through.

"When someone is apprehended for offending like this for the very first time, that is when they should be offered the opportunity to change. But make no mistake, if you come back to court for accessing this sort of filth again, you will go to prison for a very long time indeed."

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King was sentenced to a three year community order and will have to undertake the Thames Valley Sex Offender Programme, which is designed to explore and address the thoughts, feelings and beliefs underpinning internet sex offending. He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

King was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, 45 days of rehabilitation activity and pay costs of 400.

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Robert King sobs as he's spared jail for possessing thousands of images of child abuse - Somerset Live