SIMON HALLS FROM LITTLEPORT ESCAPES JAIL DESPITE POSSESSING 80 CHILD PORN IMAGES

In October 2012, Simon Halls, a 28-year-old resident of Meadow Court in Littleport, narrowly avoided imprisonment after admitting to possessing and creating over 80 disturbing images involving young children. The case was heard at Cambridge Crown Court, where Halls pleaded guilty to two charges: one of possessing indecent images of children and another of producing such images.

The investigation into Halls began following a police search of his family home on September 13 of the previous year. The search was initially conducted in connection with an unrelated matter, but during the operation, officers seized several electronic devices, including a computer from Halls' bedroom. Upon examination, the computer was found to contain numerous images and videos depicting young girls, some as young as four years old.

During police interviews, Halls claimed that the images appeared as pop-ups, which he alleged were triggered by his use of the popular file-sharing platform Limewire. However, forensic analysis by computer experts revealed a different story. Prosecutor Marti Blair explained that at least half of the images had been deliberately downloaded and organized into various folders on Halls' hard drive. The images ranged in age from four-year-olds to teenagers aged sixteen, with most classified as level four on a severity scale, where level five is considered the most serious.

Halls admitted that the computer was his property and acknowledged that he had searched for images of teenagers on adult websites. Despite the gravity of the offences, Halls' early guilty plea was noted by the court, and mitigation was presented by his legal representative, David Taylor. Taylor highlighted that Halls had previously suffered from depression and anxiety, and he expressed hope that Halls would work to change his wrongful attitudes and behaviors.

However, Judge Mark Lucraft QC emphasized the seriousness of the case during sentencing. He stated, “My opinion is your offence is serious enough that a community sentence is not enough.” The judge also remarked on the loss of good character, noting, “It’s always a sad day when someone of previous good character loses that good character in a court.”

As part of his sentence, Halls was ordered to undergo a two-year supervision period and to complete a sex offender treatment program. Additionally, a sexual offences prevention order was imposed, which will remain in effect for ten years. Under this order, Halls is prohibited from using any device capable of accessing the internet or storing images unless he makes such devices available to police or child protection authorities upon request. Furthermore, his name and address will be registered with the police for the next decade, ensuring ongoing monitoring of his activities related to child protection.