BET365 WORKER SENTENCED FOR POSSESSING HUNDREDS OF CHILD ABUSE IMAGES
Pervert Dominic Finney was caught with hundreds of indecent images of children.The 36-year-old started to access adult pornography but when he saw images of children which filtered through he developed a fascination.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he went on to download more than 700 indecent images of children until police turned up at his home and seized three phones.
Now Finney has been sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months after a judge believes there is a realistic chance of him being rehabilitated.
Prosecutor Barry White said police attended the defendant's Trent Vale home on September 5, 2024.
Mr White said: "He was arrested.
The house was searched.
Three mobiles were seized.
They were examined.
Images were found on each of the three devices." Police found 256 indecent images at category A, the most serious; 139 at category B; and 325 at category C.
And there was a prohibited image and an extreme pornographic image.
Finney, of Springfield Road, Trent Vale, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children; possession of a prohibited image; and possession of an extreme pornographic image.
Martin Bloor, mitigating, said Finney had accepted responsibility for his actions.
Mr Bloor said: "He does not try to minimise his behaviour or justify his actions.
He is appalled by his behaviour.
"He started to access adult pornography.
Child porn is filtered through.
He then started a fascination with that.
He accepted that he searched for child pornography and indecent images of children." He said Finney is working at bet365 and has remained offence-free for 18 months.
Mr Bloor added: "These are strong factors to suggest that he can be rehabilitated along with a lack of previous convictions leading up to these offences." As part of the suspended sentence Finney must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for up to 20 days and 150 hours unpaid work.
Judge Richard McConaghy said: "There was at least one image involving children as young as four-years-of-age.
"This is your first time in front of the courts.
There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in your case." The judge ordered the deprivation of the three phones.
He made Finney the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years and he was placed on the sex offenders' register for the same period.
He was ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
