RICHARD BAMPTON FROM PAIGNTON CAUGHT WITH CHILD SEX CARTOONS AND MOVIES IN HORRIFIC CASE
In a disturbing case that has shocked the community of Paignton, Richard Bampton, a man with a troubling history, has been sentenced to prison after police uncovered a cache of illegal and highly disturbing images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.The investigation revealed that Bampton, who resides on Colin Road in Paignton, was in possession of numerous animated and real-life materials that involved the exploitation of children, some of which showed graphic sexual acts involving cartoon children and actual minors.
According to court records, Bampton, aged 36, was already a registered sex offender.
He had previously completed a 60-session treatment program aimed at addressing his sexual interests in children, which was intended to rehabilitate him and prevent further offending.
Despite this, during a routine check conducted by his police offender manager in June of the previous year, authorities discovered a troubling collection of images and movies on his devices.
These included 35 items on his phone, along with evidence of 174 prior searches related to such material.
The material found was particularly disturbing, with some movies depicting cartoon children, approximately eight years old, engaging in sexual activities.
The images were in the style of Japanese anime, a genre often associated with such illegal content.
The police reports indicated that some of these animations showed penetrative sexual acts.
Bampton admitted to possessing a prohibited image of a child during the court proceedings and pleaded guilty to the charges.
At Exeter Crown Court, Recorder Mr.
Donald Tait sentenced Bampton to 14 months in prison.
The sentence also involved activating part of a previously suspended sentence from December 2018, which was related to earlier charges.
Additionally, Bampton was placed on the sex offenders’ register and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order that will remain in effect for ten years.
The judge emphasized the seriousness of his actions, stating, “You knew you were subject of a suspended sentence and were no doubt warned what would happen if you did anything similar.
You attended 60 sessions of the Horizon treatment programme but the probation report suggests you paid lip service to it and did not think it was for you.
If you carry on offending like this you will be going to prison on a regular basis.” Prosecutor Mr.
Ryan Murray detailed that police, who had been monitoring Bampton due to his prior conviction, regularly visited his residence.
During these visits, they discovered the illicit images and movies stored on his mobile phone and Xbox console.
The content was exclusively animated, in the Japanese anime style, with some images depicting penetrative sexual acts involving cartoon children.
Bampton initially claimed that the images did not resemble real children and denied having a sexual interest in minors.
In a separate case from December 2018, Bampton, then a 33-year-old road sweeper from Torquay, narrowly avoided jail after hoarding thousands of child abuse images and cartoons.
Court proceedings revealed that he had downloaded numerous disturbing images from the internet, including videos involving the abuse of babies and very young children.
Bampton had even turned up at court expecting a custodial sentence and had given up his job in anticipation of the outcome.
However, the judge handed down a suspended sentence, instructing him to seek help through a sex offender treatment program.
He pleaded guilty to three charges related to possessing indecent images of children and one charge of possessing prohibited images.
Police, acting on information about illegal downloads, raided his home in Paignton in May 2016.
They examined a USB stick found next to his bed, along with his phone and laptop, discovering 91 indecent images, 29 of which were in the most serious category.
Six movies depicted the abuse of children as young as four years old.
Internet search terms used by Bampton indicated he was actively seeking child abuse images.
As a result, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years, and was ordered to register as a sex offender and banned from using the internet.
