South Yorkshire pervert pays "heavy price" after being caught with indecent images of children
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Paul Smith, aged 42, of Lord Street, East Dene, Rotherham, was caught by police, according to a Sheffield Crown Court hearing, with one category A image, one category B image and one category C image, with category A being the most serious.
James Baird, prosecuting, told the hearing on January 13 police became aware Smith had been engaging in a chatroom with someone he believed to be 16-years-old so officers attended his home.
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Hide AdMr Baird added Smith’s mobile phone revealed he had been involved in conversations seeking to secure indecent images of children and there was a small number of indecent images of children aged eight to ten-years-old on his phone.
The category B image was a moving image which had been distributed by the defendant on two different occasions on October 14, 2018, according to Mr Baird.
Judge Michael Slater told Smith: “Possession and distribution of material of this sort inevitably attracts a custodial sentence that is because the children depicted in the images are not commodoties to be looked at or traded. They do exist and are subjected to this despicable behaviour for the delectation of those of a particular persuasion.”
Night porter Smith, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to three counts of making or possessing indecent images and to one count of distributing an indecent image on two different occasions.
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Hide AdMichael Cane-Soothill, defending, said the case involved a very small number of images and Smith recognises his actions were wrong and he wants to address his behaviour.
Judge Slater told Smith: “You have paid a heavy price for it. Your wife divorced you and your children don’t want anything to do with you and you lost a very good job by way of it, ultimately becoming bankrupt and finding yourself in constrained circumstances.”
Smith, who has been placed in the Sex Offenders Register, was sentenced to six months of custody suspended for two years with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. He was also placed under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.
