18 Month Sentence For Child Pornography

A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for offences relating to indecent images of children.

Adrian White admitted 23 counts of making or possessing indecent images and four counts of distributing them.

Exeter Crown Court heard how the 52-year-old used the alias "Mr Grippy" when he exchanged extreme images to fellow paedophiles.

Judge Mr Justice Butterfield said some extreme images of sadism involved children as young as one.

Some of the most depraved images were sent to paedophiles he had met in internet chat rooms, where violent and sadistic fantasies were also exchanged.

The court was told White lived in rural Devon and started to download pornographic images as a way of coping with the isolation.

White, who worked as an administrator at an electrical business in Axminster, was arrested in September last year after being traced through the images he had downloaded.

David Bowen, prosecuting, said films and around 700 still images of child abuse were found at White's home and work.

It involved children aged between one and 13, although most were in the younger age range, and 400 of the images were rated at the two worst levels.

Nicola Smailes, defending, said White had lost his father and sister and was the sole carer for his 85-year-old mother and had used the images "as a comfort and escape at a difficult time".

But Mr Justice Butterfield told White his behaviour had contributed to the exploitation and abuse of young children, "some of which is impossible to describe".

(H)