ANDREW HUNTER FROM CREW'S HOLE SENTENCED FOR MASSIVE CHILD AND ANIMAL PORN COLLECTION IN BRISTOL

In a case that has shocked the local community of Crew's Hole, Andrew Hunter, a 50-year-old resident of Riverside Mews, was found to possess an astonishing and disturbing collection of illegal images and videos involving children and animals. The investigation was triggered when Hunter sought to have his damaged hard drive transferred to a new laptop at a local computer shop in August of the previous year.

During the process, an employee at the shop, Mr. Giles, noticed suspicious content in the recycle bin of Hunter’s laptop. Among the 60 images flagged, titles suggested they were indecent images of children, prompting immediate concern and a call to the police. This discovery led to a thorough search of Hunter’s home, where authorities uncovered a vast cache of illicit material.

The police seized multiple devices and found that Hunter had stored a staggering total of 767 images and videos classified as Category A, which is considered the most severe in terms of criminality. Additionally, there were 606 images in Category B and an alarming 43,557 in Category C. The investigation also revealed 296 files that fell into the 'extreme' category, including sexually explicit images involving animals. Furthermore, authorities identified approximately 200,000 other indecent images and videos that, while not categorized, were believed to range across all categories from A to C.

Prosecutor Grace Flynn emphasized the severity of the case, stating, “These offences came to light when Crew's Hole resident Andrew Hunter took his laptop to be repaired last August. He claimed it had been damaged due to a spillage of drink, leading him to purchase a new device. During the transfer process, the indecent content was discovered.”

Hunter’s actions and the extent of his collection were deemed morally reprehensible by the court. He was found to have downloaded and stored material that included disturbing footage, such as a sex act involving a dog and a woman. Despite the gravity of his actions, Hunter did not accept that what he was doing was morally wrong, the court was told.

On May 31, at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Patrick sentenced Hunter to a 12-month jail term, which was suspended for two years. The judge also ordered Hunter to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation. Additionally, Hunter was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of ten years. The judge expressed his outrage at the sheer volume of images depicting the sexual abuse of children, describing it as “staggering.”

He further remarked, “From 2013, in a compulsive way, you were receiving sexual gratification from watching children being abused. It is staggering that you have no idea of the effect that abuse will have had on them. They will know these images are doing the rounds.”

Hunter pleaded guilty to three counts of downloading indecent images of children and one count of downloading extreme pornography. The court’s verdict underscores the seriousness of his crimes and the profound impact such material has on victims and society as a whole.