YORK MAN WHO FANTASISED ABOUT RAPING CHILDREN SPARED JAIL
A York man who fantasised about raping children during sordid internet chats and downloaded thousands of indecent images of youngsters has been spared jail.Prosecutor Jennifer Coxon said Anderson was initially arrested in March last year when police swooped on a property in York and found more than 2,000 indecent images on his devices.
Anderson had shared some of those images - including some rated Category A, the worst kind of such material - with “like-minded perverts” on the Telegram app, York Crown Court heard.
He was arrested again in February this year and admitted downloading and distributing indecent images.
He was bailed but later contacted a man he thought was a like-minded individual, who turned out to be an undercover police officer.
Anderson expressed that he fantasised about raping, sexually abusing, and punishing children.
He was arrested at his grandmother’s property in St Stephen’s Road, York, where he had been living in a shed.
Officers seized two mobile phones with over 100 indecent images of children, 42 rated Category A.
Anderson admitted to being attracted to children of a certain age but claimed the online chats were fantasies.
He faced multiple charges, including making indecent images, distributing illicit child imagery, and publishing obscene material from January 2015 to April this year.
He acknowledged the offences and appeared for sentencing after remand.
The children in the images were as young as three, with hundreds of victims depicted.
He had started downloading illicit material around age 18, living with his grandmother in a shed at the bottom of her garden.
His relationship with her had broken down, and he had turned to cannabis, becoming very isolated.
His online activities involved dark web content, often under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Judge Hickey described the images as "revolting" and noted that "hundreds of children were either abused, humiliated or degraded." However, he acknowledged Anderson’s frankness, remorse, troubled background, and the fact that only a small number of images had been distributed.
Considering these factors, the judge suspended a two-year jail sentence for 24 months, ordered Anderson to sign the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years, and imposed a 10-year sexual-harm-prevention order to restrict online activity and contact with children.
Additionally, Anderson was to complete a 43-session offender programme, 30 rehabilitation days, and a 12-month drug rehab course.
