PETER ATTAWAY, BELTON, LEICESTERSHIRE: MAN CONVICTED OF SEXUAL OFFENCES INVOLVING 15-YEAR-OLD AND CHILD ABUSE IMAGE OFFENCES

In June 2014, Peter Attaway, a 46-year-old married bank employee from Belton, Leicestershire, was found to have engaged in sexual misconduct involving a 15-year-old boy and to have downloaded child abuse images from the internet.

The incident came to light after the victim's father discovered inappropriate text messages from Attaway on his son's mobile phone. Police responded to Attaway's residence in Belton, where they uncovered that he had accessed hundreds of illegal images of boys on his home computer.

At Leicester Crown Court, Attaway pleaded guilty to multiple charges. He admitted to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by persuading the boy to expose himself. He also pleaded guilty to possessing several indecent images of children, with counts involving 912 images at level one, 23 at level two, six at level three, and 14 at level four—levels indicating increasing severity, with level five being the most serious.

Additionally, Attaway admitted to downloading another 409 images at level one and possessing three indecent pseudo, or cartoon, videos depicting sexual acts with children, between 2012 and 2013.

The court sentenced Attaway to a three-year community order with supervision and mandated he undergo sex offender rehabilitation. A five-year sexual offences prevention order was also imposed, which restricts him from having unsupervised contact with children under 16 and limits his internet usage, with monitoring by authorities.

It was revealed during the hearing that Attaway, who lost his job at the bank after his offences were uncovered, is now employed as a writer. Judge Nicholas Dean QC commented on the case, stating, "I accept you didn't engage in sexual activity with him, other than to persuade him briefly to expose himself to you. You clearly have perverted thought processes. You gained sexual gratification through downloading and viewing indecent images of children. You have sought help and demonstrated a level of insight, to give good reason to suppose, with help and assistance, you will be able to overcome the problems you've got yourself into. You've brought the fabric of your own life crumbling around your ears. It must have come as an appalling shock to your family. It now causes you to be alone and isolated in the world."

Mitigating, solicitor David Outterside, spoke on Attaway’s behalf, saying, "He’s remorseful. He has sought help and wants to work with the probation service so that what happened with the boy is an isolated one-off. Before this, he lived a blameless life. His wife has started divorce proceedings and his relationship with his two children has now been damaged. He’s suffering from anxiety and depression."