MICHAEL SERGEANT OF GLOUCESTER SENTENCED FOR CHILD EXPLICIT IMAGES

In February 2009, a man from Gloucester was sentenced to a three-year community order after admitting to possessing indecent images of children. Michael Sergeant, 51, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 11 charges of creating indecent photographs via the internet, some of which were classified as the most serious category.

Cheltenham Magistrates Court heard on Monday that police uncovered thousands of images stored on Sergeant's computer, including some depicting naked young boys. The investigation was prompted by a German child exploitation online protection team, which examined internet exchange forums and traced the material back to Sergeant's address on Albion Street in Gloucester.

Sergeant was arrested in May of the previous year. Prosecutor David Nicholas stated, "There were thousands of uploads and downloads, many of which involved individual images of children."

Since his arrest, Sergeant has relocated to an address in Devon. His defense team claimed he had "started a new life" there.

Defence lawyer Leo Goatley noted, “Charge 11 is the only one related to multiple indecent photographs rather than a single image. Many of these are level one images and are as inappropriate as erotic content. They do not meet the threshold for custodial sentencing. He did not distribute the images. Prior to this, he had no previous convictions. He was once a keen cricketer and involved in amateur dramatics, but he later became solitary and isolated.”

Magistrate Kieron Murphy commented, “We have considered the seriousness of the offence, especially noting there was no commercial gain or distribution involved. The defendant has family support and has expressed remorse.”

Sergeant will be required to register as a sex offender for five years and must comply with a sexual offender’s restriction order issued by Devon and Cornwall Police. This order prevents him from residing within 20 metres of a school and grants police access to his home computer.