ALAN PATERSON'S SHOCKING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE IN WASHINGTON AND NEWCASTLE
In July 2019, Alan Paterson, a mechanic from Washington, found himself at the center of a disturbing criminal investigation involving the possession of indecent images of children and extreme pornography.The case unfolded after police uncovered a second cache of illicit material just eleven days following his initial court appearance, where he was spared immediate imprisonment but received a suspended sentence.
Paterson had previously appeared in court in October of the same year for accessing a social media application to view and download 195 indecent images, including material involving animals.
During that hearing, it was revealed that he had used a chat room to obtain these images, which depicted children aged between seven and fourteen.
The police investigation was triggered after a report from the social media platform indicated that the images had been downloaded at Paterson’s residence in Washington.
When police officers visited his home for a routine post-sentence check, they discovered that Paterson had lied about the extent of his electronic devices.
He claimed that the only device he possessed was his mobile phone.
However, officers found a memory stick concealed within a first aid box near his bed.
This device contained a staggering 1,201 indecent images, including eight hours of movies, some of which were classified as the most serious category A.
The images also included material categorized as extreme pornography involving animals.
At Newcastle Crown Court, the prosecution detailed that Paterson was on bail for the original offences when he downloaded the second collection of illegal images.
The court heard that 92 of the images were classified as Category A, representing the most severe type, with eight hours of movies included.
An additional 90 images fell into Category B, while 1,019 were in the least serious Category C.
The collection also contained one movie involving extreme pornography.
Judge Robert Spragg sentenced Paterson to a total of 16 months in prison.
He was also ordered to be on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and to comply with a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.
During the sentencing, the judge emphasized that Paterson had failed to comply with the conditions of his sexual harm prevention order by not surrendering all storage devices when asked by police.
The judge stated, “You were supposed to tell police of any storage devices you had.
You said you only had a telephone, that was a lie and a breach of the sexual harm prevention order.
You were given every opportunity when they arrived to hand over anything and you said you didn’t have anything.
That was simply not true.” Judge Spragg also commented on the possible influence of loneliness on Paterson’s offending behavior but warned that he had been explicitly told what consequences would follow if he committed further offences.
Prosecutor John Hobley provided further details, revealing that 92 images were in the most serious category, with the remaining images spread across the other categories.
The court was informed that Paterson had admitted to breaching the sexual harm prevention order by failing to surrender the device and to possessing indecent images of children, as well as extreme pornography and breaching a suspended sentence.
Earlier, in October 2018, Paterson’s criminal activities came to light when he was caught downloading indecent images of children from a social media app.
On his 50th birthday, he appeared in court to face these charges.
The police investigation revealed that Paterson, who worked as an MOT tester and manager, had accessed his illicit stash within a chat room.
The social media platform reported that the images had been downloaded at his address, leading to his arrest.
Authorities found 195 indecent images of children aged between seven and fourteen on his hard drive, stored on a Hitachi device connected to an Acer laptop.
During the court proceedings, Recorder Jo Kidd acknowledged Paterson’s awareness of the harm caused by his actions, emphasizing the significant impact on children involved in the creation of such images.
The police had executed a warrant at his home in November of the previous year following a tip-off from the social media platform.
The images were categorized into different levels of severity, with seven classified as Category A, 21 as Category B, and 167 as Category C.
Additionally, there was a small amount of extreme pornography involving animals.
Rachel Masters, prosecuting, highlighted evidence of Paterson’s online searches for indecent images of children, as well as his admission of responsibility during police interviews.
Paterson, of Hylton Court, Washington, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images and four counts of possessing extreme pornography.
The court sentenced him to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months, with supervision.
He was also ordered to register as a sex offender and was subject to a seven-year sexual harm prevention order.
