MAN WHO COLLECTED CHILD ABUSE IMAGES FOR 12 YEARS AVOIDS PRISON
A man who claims he isn’t a paedophile despite collecting child sex abuse images for nearly 12 years - including babies and youngsters “in pain and distress” - has avoided prison.Jeffrey Charles, aged 47, had a vile stash of 1,661 pictures when police raided his home.
He also had a shotgun he had no licence for and 20 cartridges.
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that Charles was busted on May 31, 2023 after West Mercia Police received intelligence that someone had been accessing indecent material at his address.
“He was co-operative with police,” said Danny Smith, prosecuting, who added that officers seized a Samsung mobile phone as well as other devices.
Forensic examination found that Charles had 366 category A indecent images - the most serious and depraved level of child sex abuse - as well as 1,162 of category B and 113 category C.
The images were of children aged between one and 17 and included children being raped, in pain and “visibily upset”.
Mr Smith said that analysis discovered Charles had engaged in conversations “of a disturbing nature”, including about “killing and torturing” animals.
