LEEDS PENSIONER RONALD SMYTH SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES IN LEEDS

LEEDS PENSIONER RONALD SMYTH SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES IN LEEDS

In February 2019, a Leeds-based pensioner was sentenced to prison after being found with illegal images of children being sexually abused.

Ronald Smyth, aged 67, was immediately sent to prison by a judge who stated that the severity of his crimes warranted custodial detention, despite it being his first conviction.

Leeds Crown Court heard that police executed a search warrant at Smyth’s residence in Beeston, Leeds, in April 2017, following intelligence indicating that illegal images had been accessed from the property.

During the police interview, Smyth admitted that he had stored illegal images on USB sticks concealed under his mattress.

The USB sticks were recovered and contained nearly 1,500 images depicting children being abused.

Among these, 573 images were classified as Category A, signifying the most serious level of offending.

Further investigations showed that Smyth had distributed 28 Category A images to others via online chat rooms.

Smyth, of Cross Flatts Grove, Beeston, pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images of children, possessing prohibited images, and possession of extreme images.

Judge Tom Bayliss, QC, addressed Smyth during sentencing, stating, “How you got pleasure from looking at those images is something only you will know.”