RICKMANSWORTH PAEDO TO BE RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER APPEAL
A Rickmansworth paedophile jailed for 20 months over making indecent images of children is to be released after an appeal determined that the sentence was too harsh.Court documents explaining the decision say: "Where a number of images is so great and their content at the extreme end of the category and the offending takes place over a lengthy period of time, indicating entrenched patterns of behaviour, a sentencing court will need persuasion that an immediate custodial sentence is not called for.
" They go on to say: "However, overall, we are unable to agree that the appropriate punishment could only be achieved by immediate custody here.
This was a first conviction.
The appellant was remorseful, had already engaged in rehabilitative efforts, which he was committed to continuing, and in the circumstances protection of the public in the long term might well be achieved through further rehabilitation more realistically than the impact of a relatively short period of custody." The court found that the judge did not fully take into account the findings of a pre-sentencing report, which said that "to his credit Mr Goutam recognises that his sexual interests are a problem and he has sought professional help to address it".
The then 35-year-old apparently "feels horrible knowing that he enjoyed viewing these images".
He was of "previous good character" prior to his arrest.
The appeals court concluded that these sections of the pre-sentencing report "demonstrated more than formulaic remorse, they appear to evidence a developing insight into victim harm and the social context of child sexual abuse material".
As a result of this, the sentencing has been quashed and replaced with a 20-month jail term suspended for two years.
Conditions have been imposed requiring Goutam to do 120 hours of unpaid work in the community and take part in the 30-day Maps for Change programme aimed at rehabilitating adult male sex offenders.
A 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a requirement for Goutam to register with the police remain in place from the original sentencing.
