GORDON QUICK FROM LONGTON ESCAPES PRISON AFTER BEING FOUND WITH CHILD INDECENT IMAGES IN STOKE-ON-TRENT

In April 2018, a disturbing case emerged involving Gordon Quick, a 38-year-old resident of Longton, who was found to possess indecent images of children on his personal computer. The images, which depicted young children aged between six and 12 being subjected to sexual abuse and torture, were discovered during a police search of his home in Longton.

Police officers executed a search warrant at Quick’s residence on June 27. During the investigation, they seized his computer tower, which contained a variety of illicit images. The authorities found that Quick had stored these images in a folder labeled ‘Young,’ a clear indication of his awareness of their inappropriate nature. The images were categorized as Category A, signifying the most serious level of indecency, alongside other images classified as Category C.

Prosecutor Timothy Ashmole detailed the findings, stating, “Images were found on the computer.” He explained that during police interviews, Quick denied actively searching for such images. Instead, he claimed that the images had been accessed through an adult chat site and that he merely moved them into a folder. Ashmole emphasized, “We concede there is no evidence of searching for child porn. We say the defendant made the images when he downloaded them, placed them in a file, and retained them.”

Quick, who resides on Lightwood Road in Longton, pleaded guilty to two charges of making indecent images of children. His plea was based on the assertion that he did not deliberately or knowingly download the images. He admitted that upon discovering the images, he filed them in a folder named ‘Young’ and acknowledged that he was aware of their indecent nature. However, he accepted that he did not delete the images from his computer.

In court, Judge Stephen Thomas considered the circumstances and decided to suspend Quick’s sentence. He sentenced him to four months in prison, suspended for 18 months. Additionally, Quick was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and participate in a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement. The judge also imposed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and mandated that Quick register as a sex offender for seven years.

Judge Thomas explained his decision, stating, “You had six images of Category A, images of the most serious nature. They are images of the penetration of children, in this case between the ages of six and 12. You should not have had images of children on your computer.” He highlighted that the relatively small number of images, the fact that Quick did not actively search for child pornography, and the short duration they remained on his computer were factors in his decision to suspend the sentence.