PETER ANGELL OF COUNTY DURHAM SENTENCED FOR VIEWING CHILD-PORNO MATERIALS ON DARK NET

In July 2014, Peter Angell was found to have viewed indecent films and images of children after installing software on his home computer to access the so-called “dark net.” The court was informed that this software enabled Angell to browse parts of the internet not easily accessible through standard browsers.

Police investigation brought Angell’s activities to light. On April 11, police obtained a warrant and conducted a search of his home in Spennymoor, County Durham. During the search, they confiscated a laptop and a mobile phone. An examination of the devices uncovered 89 video clips and 142 still images depicting children, mostly stored on his laptop, with some on his phone.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden explained that the collection of video clips amounted to approximately seven and a half hours of footage, featuring children estimated to be between six and ten years old. Angell was arrested and interviewed by police, during which he denied having any sexual interest in children. He claimed he was motivated by curiosity and admitted to seeking out the material.

Angell explained to officers that he read about the “dark net” in a magazine and took two weeks to install the necessary software to access it. Now aged 39 and residing at Church Street, Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, he pleaded guilty to 16 charges of making indecent pictures of a child and one count each of possessing moving and still images.

In mitigation, Tom Mitchell highlighted that Angell is of previous good character. Referring to a probation pre-sentence report, he emphasized that Angell was not considered to pose a significant threat to children. Mitchell also argued that accessing the “dark net” via software installation was less complicated than the prosecution suggested.

Judge Colin Burn addressed Angell directly, stating: “It’s the quantity of material rather than the length of the clips that demonstrates there’s a problem. You’ve watched those images of real children being really abused for the entertainment, titillation, or gratification of those making or sharing them. For every individual who possesses this material, there are tens and hundreds of children in far-flung corners of the world being horribly abused. By downloading these images, you’re providing a market and perpetrating the trade in such images.”

He sentenced Angell to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, during which he must complete a sex offender treatment program supervised by the Probation Service. Additionally, Angell was subject to a five-year sexual offenses prevention order, restricting future contact with children and limiting internet access, while also requiring him to register as a sex offender for ten years. The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all his computer equipment.