GARETH WILLIAMS OF DROITWICH JAILED FOR DISTRIBUTING INDECENT IMAGES OF CHILDREN IN WORCESTER
| Red Rose Database
Droitwich Rapist
In August 2017, Gareth Williams, a delivery driver from Friar Street, Droitwich, was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of possessing a large number of indecent images of children. The judge described Williams's actions as ‘ghastly’ and emphasized that his offenses contributed to child abuse.
Williams, aged 46, downloaded a total of 591 images classified as Category A—the most serious level of child abuse imagery—between February 6, 2006, and April 12, 2015. Police also recovered 807 images at Category B and 665 at Category C, with additional 100 extreme images and four prohibited images involving children.
He admitted to the charges at Worcestershire Magistrates’ Court on June 29, following the execution of a search warrant at his home on May 12 of the previous year. During the search, authorities seized multiple devices, including three laptops stored in a chest of drawers.
Prosecutor Dan White told the court that the images featured children aged from four to 16 years old and included both still photographs and videos. Williams had used peer-to-peer software to access the material. Mr. White highlighted that some images contained sexual acts involving animals.
He explained aggravating factors, noting the vulnerability of the children depicted, the high volume of images, the duration over which Williams had kept these materials, and his deliberate effort to seek out such content.
Judge Nicolas Cartwright addressed Williams directly, stating, “You were plainly active, looking for exactly this material in order to satisfy yourself sexually.” He found it ‘odd’ that Williams believed viewing such images could substitute for emotional human interaction.
The judge went on to describe the profound harm caused by these images, noting that they represent real children being victimized in the most horrific ways. “For a child to be the subject of rape which is filmed or photographed,” he said, “it’s not just the inevitable, enormous emotional and psychological impact but that the children grow up knowing that, for the rest of their lives, the images of these ghastly things being done to them will remain for people with an interest like yours, in perpetuity.”
Judge Cartwright emphasized that Williams’s interest contributed to a demand that sustains the supply of such material, making his offenses particularly serious. He also remarked that Williams appeared to be an “emotionally immature, isolated and emotionally weak individual,” considering it a mitigating factor.
Williams was sentenced to six months and three weeks in prison, with an order for all indecent images to be destroyed. Additionally, a sexual harm prevention order was imposed, restricting his internet usage, his contact with children under 16, and requiring him to inform police of any change in personal circumstances for the next ten years.
Williams, aged 46, downloaded a total of 591 images classified as Category A—the most serious level of child abuse imagery—between February 6, 2006, and April 12, 2015. Police also recovered 807 images at Category B and 665 at Category C, with additional 100 extreme images and four prohibited images involving children.
He admitted to the charges at Worcestershire Magistrates’ Court on June 29, following the execution of a search warrant at his home on May 12 of the previous year. During the search, authorities seized multiple devices, including three laptops stored in a chest of drawers.
Prosecutor Dan White told the court that the images featured children aged from four to 16 years old and included both still photographs and videos. Williams had used peer-to-peer software to access the material. Mr. White highlighted that some images contained sexual acts involving animals.
He explained aggravating factors, noting the vulnerability of the children depicted, the high volume of images, the duration over which Williams had kept these materials, and his deliberate effort to seek out such content.
Judge Nicolas Cartwright addressed Williams directly, stating, “You were plainly active, looking for exactly this material in order to satisfy yourself sexually.” He found it ‘odd’ that Williams believed viewing such images could substitute for emotional human interaction.
The judge went on to describe the profound harm caused by these images, noting that they represent real children being victimized in the most horrific ways. “For a child to be the subject of rape which is filmed or photographed,” he said, “it’s not just the inevitable, enormous emotional and psychological impact but that the children grow up knowing that, for the rest of their lives, the images of these ghastly things being done to them will remain for people with an interest like yours, in perpetuity.”
Judge Cartwright emphasized that Williams’s interest contributed to a demand that sustains the supply of such material, making his offenses particularly serious. He also remarked that Williams appeared to be an “emotionally immature, isolated and emotionally weak individual,” considering it a mitigating factor.
Williams was sentenced to six months and three weeks in prison, with an order for all indecent images to be destroyed. Additionally, a sexual harm prevention order was imposed, restricting his internet usage, his contact with children under 16, and requiring him to inform police of any change in personal circumstances for the next ten years.