JUDGE LOCKED UP STEVEN WILKINSON FOR FOUR YEARS
A man described by a judge as “an active predator” has been jailed for four years after he amassed a collection of indecent material of children over more than a decade.Steven Wilkinson’s sexual interest in children only came to light after he was involved in online chats with two undercover police officers posing as 14-year-old boys.
Bradford Crown Court heard today (Mon) how Wilkinson described one “boy” as being “sexy as hell” when he was a sent a photograph of the youngster in a school uniform.
When officers went to Wilkinson’s home in Elmfield Drive, Bradford, in March last year they seized various electronic devices and discovered almost 350 indecent images had been downloaded.
Prosecutor David Hewitt said the material had been downloaded between 2013 and March 2025 and included the sexual abuse of babies as well as older children.
He said there was evidence that Wilkinson had discussed child abuse in online forums and had distributed material to at least 14 other users or groups.
Wilkinson was said to have distributed more than 300 attachments containing various levels of abuse to one user alone.
The court heard that Wilkinson, 44, had no previous convictions, but back in 2013 he was given a caution for outraging public decency.
Wilkinson admitted two offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, three offences of distributing indecent images of children and three offences of possessing indecent image of children.
Barrister Lauren Smith, for Wilkinson, said he had recognised the danger that he posed and was very keen to get help from the probation service.
But Judge Ahmed Nadim said Wilkinson had pleaded guilty to eight serious sexual offences.
“The production, possession and distribution of indecent images of children are not victimless crimes,” he told Wilkinson.
“They are a digital record of the rape and sexual abuse of real children.
Every image you possessed and every image that you distributed is a permanent record of an act of degradation, pain and humiliation inflicted upon a vulnerable child.
The psychological damage to those victims is profound and life long.” “The sound on the videos were “recordings of real children suffering real harm”.
Judge Nadim said Wilkinson had been adding to the demand in a vile marketplace by distributing images and his offending was aggravated by its duration and systematic nature.
He said the offending was also aggravated by the fact that Wilkinson had then sought to live out his “sexual fantasies” by communicating with what he believed to be 14-year-old boys.
“You were an active predator seeking to groom, manipulate and ultimately commit sexual offences involving real children,” said the judge.
Wilkinson will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and he must comply with the terms of a sexual harm prevention order for the next 20 years.
Wilkinson’s early guilty pleas at the magistrates court meant that his possible six-year jail term following a trial had to be reduced by the judge to four years.
