BRADLEY SHARP FROM ALLENTON ESCAPES JAIL DESPITE REPEATED CHILD ABUSE IMAGE OFFENSES IN DERBY

In a disturbing case that has once again brought to light the ongoing issue of child exploitation, Bradley Sharp, a 21-year-old resident of Walnut Street in Allenton, Derby, has been spared immediate imprisonment despite being caught multiple times possessing and viewing indecent images of children. The case, heard at Derby Crown Court, revealed that Sharp’s actions involved the illegal viewing and possession of a significant number of child abuse images, including some classified as the most severe category, yet he was handed a relatively lenient sentence under a conditional discharge.

Sharp’s latest appearance in court came after police discovered the illicit images on both a mobile phone and a laptop belonging to him. The police investigation was initiated when Sharp was already under a community order, serving a three-year sentence handed down in September 2021 after he admitted to possessing over 700 images of child abuse. Among these were 137 images classified as the most serious, Category A, which typically depict young children being subjected to sexual acts by adults.

According to the prosecution, Miss Lauren Fisher, Sharp was initially arrested on October 11, 2021, while he was still under the community order. The arrest followed information that the internet at his home was used to access indecent images of children. During the subsequent search, police seized a mobile phone and a laptop, with the latter containing the images in question. The images were found open on the web browser tabs, indicating active viewing at the time of seizure.

Miss Fisher explained that Sharp had been released under investigation for the previous charges when the new images were discovered. She emphasized that the images on the laptop were created and accessed after the initial sentence, raising concerns about ongoing offending behavior. The court was told that Sharp had been on bail and under probation supervision, attending all scheduled appointments with the probation service and participating in the Restart Programme through the Jobcentre, which aims to rehabilitate offenders.

However, defense counsel Miss Rebecca Coleman argued that the police seizure was based on a statement from Sharp’s offender manager, who relayed that Sharp’s mother had a laptop he used for college work. She criticized the decision to remand Sharp into custody, asserting that the assumption that the images were accessed after the community order was incorrect. Miss Coleman also pointed out that there was a lack of clarity from police regarding the specific dates when the images were accessed, which she described as “appalling.”

Despite the serious nature of the offenses, Judge Jonathan Bennett took a somewhat lenient approach in sentencing. He acknowledged that this case was unusual in his experience with indecent images and decided to impose a conditional discharge for 12 months, meaning Sharp would not serve immediate prison time but would be monitored for that period. The judge also noted that Sharp was required to notify authorities of his details for one year, although he was already subject to a five-year notification period from his previous conviction.

Judge Bennett justified his decision by highlighting that the offenses did not occur after Sharp was placed under the community order and that Sharp had spent eight weeks in custody, which was a new development in his case. The judge expressed that this was an exceptional course of action, considering the circumstances, and emphasized that Sharp’s efforts to improve his life prior to incarceration were taken into account.

In addition to the discharge, Sharp was ordered to register as a sex offender for five years and was subject to a five-year sexual harm prevention order. The case underscores the ongoing challenges faced by the justice system in dealing with repeat offenders involved in child exploitation, especially when they demonstrate some steps toward rehabilitation but continue to pose a risk to the community.