ZIGMAR BAIKS OF POPELY JAILED FOR 20 MONTHS IN WINCHESTER FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In August 2017, Zigmar Baiks, a factory worker from Popley, was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Winchester Crown Court after admitting to possessing and distributing indecent images of children. The court heard that Baiks, aged 37, had downloaded over 1,000 illicit images between May 2013 and March 2016 while participating in online chatrooms, during which he received links to graphic pictures of children aged from one to 16.

Baiks also admitted to taking six indecent images of children and distributing them through the chatsite. Prosecutor Edward Phillips said, “Baiks was first interviewed by police in 2016, during which officers retrieved a mobile phone, a laptop, a memory stick, and a USB stick from his address.” The devices contained a total of 226 Category A images (the most explicit), 213 Category B images, and 631 Category C images.

Mr. Phillips explained, “The defendant acknowledged that he entered a chatroom and downloaded images from it. He said that if he remained on the chatroom long enough, people would send links. Regarding the phone, he stated only he had access to it.”

Initially, Baiks denied possessing or sharing the six images during his first police interview, but after examining the devices, he later admitted to taking those photographs. The court noted that many images on the memory and USB sticks were duplicates, and that Baiks had no previous convictions.

Judge Susan Evans sentenced Baiks to 20 months, stating, “It is right to say that a number of the images were duplicated, but there is a large amount of Category A images. On your computer, images of young children ranged from age 10 to 16, but on the USB stick, the children appeared much younger, and on your phone, they were aged from one to three. A significant number of the Category A images included moving images, depicting real children suffering horror and abuse.”

The judge ordered Baiks to serve half of his sentence in custody followed by the remainder on license. She also imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, required him to register as a sex offender for 10 years, and ordered all of the devices used in the offenses to be forfeited and destroyed.