DEAN DITTON SENTENCED IN CHATHAM FOR HORRIFIC CHILD ABUSE IMAGE OFFENSES

In June 2015, Dean Ditton, a resident of Chatham, was sentenced to 14 months in prison after being found guilty of possessing a vast collection of child abuse images, including extremely disturbing photographs and videos involving babies and very young children in apparent pain and suffering.

The court heard that Ditton, aged 59 and living on Hammond Hill in Chatham, had admitted to possessing a total of 2,904 still images and 380 moving images. These materials ranged in severity, with 905 still photographs and 254 videos classified in the highest category of harm. The images depicted acts of sexual abuse involving infants and young children, which prosecutors described as “horrific” and “disturbing.”

Additionally, Ditton pleaded guilty to possessing extreme pornographic material that showed sexual acts involving animals. The offences were committed on July 2 of the previous year, and the case was brought before Maidstone Crown Court.

Prosecutor Abigail Husbands detailed that the images were stored in various files with suggestive names such as ‘paedo pics’ and ‘kids,’ and some were found within what appeared to be a tax folder, raising questions about the organization of the illicit material. An analysis of Ditton’s laptop revealed numerous search terms linked to the material, including “death porn,” “dark porn,” as well as more disturbing phrases like “abuse of mentally retarded,” “pre-teen models,” and “strangling and choking her.”

Following his arrest, Ditton told police that he had come across these child abuse images while browsing the internet for pornography. He claimed that some of the search terms had been suggested by the search engine itself, and he also admitted to receiving images from an individual he had met in a chatroom.

During the hearing, defence lawyer Danny Moore acknowledged that Ditton’s offending had “snowballed” over time. He emphasized that Ditton had been honest with police during his interview and expressed remorse for his actions. Moore also highlighted Ditton’s health issues, including a cancerous growth on his lung that required surgery.

Despite these mitigating factors, Judge Michael Carroll emphasized that only a custodial sentence was appropriate given the severity of the crimes. He stated, “These represent serious sexual child abuse. Just because it’s on the screen doesn’t mean it wasn’t created by serious sexually abusing a child, and those people wouldn’t create it if they didn’t think there were similar-minded people out there wanting to share it.” The judge condemned the images as “horrific,” involving the sexual abuse of babies and very young children.

As part of his sentence, Ditton is required to register as a sex offender for ten years and will be subject to an indefinite order restricting his access to devices with internet capabilities, aiming to prevent further offences.