JOHN GREENWAY FROM TYSOE SENTENCED FOR CONTINUING CHILD ABUSE IMAGE DOWNLOADS AFTER PREVIOUS SENTENCE

In a disturbing case that highlights ongoing criminal behavior despite prior convictions, John Greenway, a 63-year-old resident of Hall Close, Epwell Road, in Upper Tysoe, has been found guilty of repeatedly downloading and possessing indecent images of children. The case was heard at Warwick Crown Court, where Greenway faced serious charges related to his continued engagement in illegal activities involving child exploitation.

Greenway’s criminal history includes a previous conviction for similar offenses, which resulted in a six-month suspended prison sentence. However, evidence presented during the recent proceedings revealed that he did not cease his illicit activities after that sentence. Instead, he took deliberate steps to continue his perverted pursuits, including purchasing a new computer shortly after his arrest in March 2013.

According to prosecutor Tim Sapwell, police had seized Greenway’s computer during his arrest in 2013, uncovering a staggering 1,046 indecent images of children stored on the device. Despite this, just two weeks following his arrest, Greenway bought a replacement laptop. This new device became the tool through which he continued to download and view illegal images, both before and after he was handed a six-month suspended sentence in November 2013.

Further investigation in June 2014 uncovered Greenway’s continued misconduct. An unannounced visit by his offender manager revealed the presence of the new laptop, which Greenway admitted he was ‘in trouble’ over. When the computer was examined, authorities discovered multiple indecent images of young boys on the screen. The police seized the laptop, along with memory sticks and discs, which Greenway also admitted contained indecent images. However, the charges brought against him specifically related to the images found on the laptop, as it was not possible to determine whether those on the other storage devices had been stored before or after his initial arrest.

On the laptop, investigators identified 237 distinct images of boys, although the total number was higher due to numerous duplicates. Among these images, 17 were classified as Category A, indicating the most severe level of indecency. During questioning, Greenway provided a prepared statement claiming that all the images had been acquired before his arrest in March 2013 and that they had been overlooked by police at the time. However, the prosecution pointed out that Greenway purchased the laptop in April 2013, after his initial arrest, and that the images on the device could not have been transferred from the storage devices he previously possessed.

Greenway’s defense acknowledged the gravity of his actions, with his barrister stating, “There is not a great deal of mitigation available to Mr Greenway in this case. He accepts it was an offence during the currency of a suspended sentence. He accepts he’s going to prison today.” The defense also highlighted Greenway’s isolated lifestyle, noting that he lived with his mother, who passed away in October of the previous year, and that he had only two adult sexual relationships. Despite participating in a sexual offender’s treatment program as part of his earlier sentence, the results were not as hoped, and his behavior persisted.

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano sentenced Greenway to 16 months in prison, to run consecutively with the two months of his suspended sentence that he was also ordered to serve. Additionally, Greenway was mandated to register as a sex offender for ten years. In her remarks, the judge emphasized the seriousness of his continued offending, stating, “You were sentenced in 2013, for making indecent images, to a suspended sentence order with a treatment programme. But shortly after that, in June 2014, the police came to your house, and you immediately said you were in a bit of trouble – and you were, because on your laptop were a number of images of just the kind for which you had been sentenced. These are real children. These are not people play-acting. Children are being abused for these images for a market, and the market is people like you downloading the images. You are directly contributing to the abuse of these children. I have only one option today, and that is to send you to prison.”