MAN CAUGHT WITH IMAGES OF NAKED CHILDREN ON A MOBILE PHONE
A registered sex offender caught with images of naked children on a mobile phone had deleted a browser that allowed him to access the dark web anonymously.Bradford Crown Court heard how James Ballard’s actions put him in breach of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) imposed in 2013.
Prosecutor Joel Wootten said police on a routine call to 43-year-old Ballard’s home on August 11 last year discovered that a “Tor” browser, specifically designed to anonymise a user and enable them to access the dark web, had been uninstalled from his mobile phone.
When the device was analysed, it revealed indicative searches, including for “kids on swings at park”, “summer clothes”, and “kids in shorts outside”, as well as six “borderline” images of children aged between one and six “in various states of undress”.
Some were in swimming trunks or nappies.
Others were naked.
The court heard that Ballard, formerly of Wyke Old Lane, Bailiff Bridge, Brighouse, had previous convictions for sex offences including for making indecent images of children.
In 2024 he was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years.
He was prohibited from using any device capable of accessing the internet unless it had the capacity to retain its internet history use.
He was banned from deleting his internet history.
By deleting the internet history, Ballard was in breach of his SHPO.
The breach was said to be “deliberate” and caused a risk of serious harm.
Mitigating, Lauren Smith said Ballard, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, had been on remand for more than seven months - the equivalent of a 14-month jail sentence - and asked the court to take “a lenient course”.
She said Ballard, who suffered from depressive episodes and ADHD, had experienced grooming and bullying as a child, and social isolation as an adult.
She said he had the support of his parents and brother.
She said Ballard, who suffered from neurological impairments and learning difficulties, was remorseful and apologised for his offending.
She said the browser had been uninstalled from Ballard’s phone by the time the police visited his address, and that he had admitted having it.
She said no illegal material had been obtained.
Her Honour Judge Kirstie Watson handed Ballard an 18-month community order and imposed 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days, which she described as “a direct alternative to custody”.
Noting his “significant cognitive and psychological vulnerabilities” she nonetheless said Ballard “fully understood” the legal restrictions he was under.
She said: “You have served a significant period of time in custody.
If I was to sentence you to custody now, the licence period would be very limited.
“In my judgement, the best way to both punish you … and also to deal with the issues so far as future risk is concerned is to impose a community order.” The community order will run alongside the existing suspended sentence order.
