A dad-of-two has avoided jail after repeatedly downloading disturbing child sexual abuse photos over a 17-year period.
Pervert Ian Cottage began collecting his vile stash of more than 2,300 images and videos in 2004 and didn't stop until he was arrested in June 2021. A court heard that the youngsters involved in the sick collection were girls aged between six and 14 and some of pictures were the most serious kind, category A, which involved penetrative sexual activity.
Cottage, whose partner knows about his offending but has decided to stick by him, admitted having the sick material but claimed most of it was downloaded during the national Covid-19 lockdown. The paedophile, of Beatrice Road, in Heaton, has now been given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
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Michael Bunch, prosecuting at Newcastle Crown Court, said police attended Cottage's address in June 2021 and seized a number of electronic devices, including an Apple computer. Mr Bunch added: "The digital forensic unit identified a history of accessing sites noted to be related to chid sexual abuse material but also relevant material had been downloaded."
The court heard that, on the Apple computer, 51 category A images were found, 51 category B and 2,243 category C. A category C video was also discovered on the device.
Mr Bunch said the material was downloaded between 2004 and 2021, although Cottage claimed the majority was accessed during the Covid-19 lockdown. During two subsequent police interviews, he made no comments to all relevant questions.
Tony Cornberg, defending, said Cottage was arrested two-years-ago and had stayed out of trouble since. Mr Cornberg continued: "He is of good character.
"He makes full admissions, in fact, he makes very detailed admissions. A lot of this offending occurs during the Covid lockdowns. He understands he requires assistance. He's told his partner and she's supportive and is aware of the facts of the case."
Sentencing Cottage, Judge Edward Bindloss said: "The serious aggravating factors here are the ages of the children, the period of over which you were viewing the images and the high number of category C images. However, there is strong mitigation in your case."
Cottage must also sign the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years and was made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period.
