CONSETT MAN GUILTY OF UPLOADING CHILD ABUSE IMAGES ONTO COMPUTER GAME
An immature County Durham man uploaded indecent images of children onto the artwork of a computer game he was playing.Durham Crown Court heard that Christopher David White was also found to have used other child abuse images as screen savers when police seized devices from him in March 2023.
Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, said analysis of the illegal images discovered on the devices included 321 branded as indecent featuring children, eight of which were in the most serious category.
There were also a further 94 prohibited images portraying child abuse and another classed as “extreme pornography” featuring a scene of bestiality.
Although the 28-year-old defendant of Fenwick Way, Consett, made admissions during 90-minutes of police interviews, when he appeared at a plea hearing at the court, in April, White denied three counts of making indecent images of children, plus one each of possession of prohibited images of a child and possession of extreme pornography.
A provisional trial date was set for February 2026 to resolve the issue.
But the case came back before the court today (Thursday August 21), when White changed his pleas to guilty on all five counts.
His counsel, Sophie Johnstone, said his initial denials of the charges may appear to be down to a lack of insight and remorse.
But she said the defendant had a troubled background and was exposed to pornography from a young age.
Miss Johnstone said he has a history of mental health issues with borderline personality disorder.
But she said there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation by working with the Probation Service to overcome his difficulties.
Judge Nathan Adams told White he now falls to be sentenced over what were “truly awful” images of children being sexually abused, found on his devices.
They were downloaded between 2020 and 2023 across various devices.
Judge Adams said the fact he used some as screen savers and uploaded others to use as ‘wallpaper’ or 'artwork' onto a computer game he was playing, “shows a level of immaturity”.
“You’ve been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and I read that there’s now some acceptance of the consequences of what you have done.
These are not computer game images, they are images of horrific abuse of real children.
Those who download them encourage the vile people who produce them.
The more people like you access them, the more are likely to be produced and more children will be subject to this horrific abuse.” The judge made him subject to restrictions over his future use of the internet, by way of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, while he will also be required to register as a sex offender, both for the next seven years.
