PAUL ELLIOTT OF SAWBRIDGEWORTH SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN CHELMSFORD

In May 2014, Paul Elliott, a resident of Hazel Gardens in Sawbridgeworth, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after being found guilty of possessing a vast collection of indecent images of children. The court heard that Elliott had downloaded approximately 150,000 such images, a staggering number that underscored his persistent and compulsive behavior.

One of the disturbing images police discovered on Elliott's mobile phone depicted a young girl he had taken a photograph of while waiting in a doctor’s surgery in Chelmsford. This particular image was not indecent, but it was part of a larger cache of illicit material. The police investigation revealed that Elliott’s collection included images of girls aged between 13 and 15, as well as some as young as three years old. The images ranged in severity from Level C, which is considered the lowest, to Level A, the most severe, with some still photographs and videos falling into the higher categories.

At 54 years old, Elliott had a prior conviction from March 2010, when he served a 20-month prison sentence for possessing ten indecent photographs. During that period, he was also subject to a court order that prohibited him from possessing devices capable of accessing the internet or storing images of minors, or from having a computer without monitoring software installed. Despite this, Elliott breached the order multiple times, pleading guilty to three offences of breaching the sexual offences prevention order between January 2011 and December 2013, and to 12 offences related to the making and downloading of indecent images of children.

The police found that Elliott’s collection was not only extensive but also recent, with the images being freshly downloaded. Detective Constable Katherine Binks from Essex Police’s online investigation team was praised by Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC for her diligent work in examining the enormous volume of images—over 150,000 in total—which took her 30 hours to sift through. Elliott initially claimed that these images were leftovers from 2010, but the evidence proved otherwise.

Judge Goldstaub emphasized the seriousness of Elliott’s repeated violations, describing his behavior as “flagrant breach of the court order” and suggesting a pattern of compulsive conduct. He warned Elliott that if he committed similar offences again, he could face an indeterminate prison sentence as a dangerous offender. The judge also acknowledged Elliott’s ill-health as a mitigating factor in his sentencing.

During the hearing, it was revealed that police monitoring officers discovered the images during a visit to Elliott in December of the previous year. The image of the girl in the doctor’s waiting room was not indecent, but it was part of the illicit collection. Elliott’s legal representative, Andrew Clowser, described his client’s compulsive behavior as “his beast, it’s his black dog,” and noted that Elliott had tried to limit his collection to less serious categories of images. Clowser also explained that Elliott, being on benefits, could not afford to install monitoring software or equipment, and that his close partner was fully aware of his actions.

In a related case from March 2014, Elliott pleaded guilty to 15 new offences, including the download of nearly 3,000 additional indecent images of children. His case was heard at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, and it was subsequently sent to Chelmsford Crown Court for sentencing. This followed his earlier conviction in 2010, which resulted in a 20-month prison sentence and a court order restricting his access to devices capable of storing or viewing such images. During the March hearing, Elliott admitted to 12 offences involving images and three breaches of the court order, with the images ranging from Level 1 to Level 4 in severity. His case is scheduled for sentencing during the week of April 7, and he remains on bail pending the outcome.