A cyber pervert shared child abuse images of the “most terrible” type featuring victims being “horrendously abused”.
Former chef Owen Wright, 30, of The Calvers, The Brow, Runcorn, was arrested when officers from Cheshire Police executed a warrant on January 14, 2021. They seized two iPhones, a Samsung phone and a small quantity of the Class B drug cannabis.
Jade Tufail, prosecuting at Chester Crown Court, sitting in magistrates’ court on Wednesday, said the devices were examined and Wright was found to have been using platforms such as Snapchat, Kik Messenger, and “mega links” to discuss indecent material and forward pictures. Paedophile Wright’s devices contained 327 indecent images in total.
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Ms Tufail said his conversations with others "seeking similar images" included requests for “younger” subjects - asking “do you have younger?” and “send younger images”, in addition to a request for “new ones because he had lost his collection”.
When interviewed by the police, Wright admitted ownership of the devices and social media accounts and “confirmed distribution” but “said he didn’t have a sexual interest in children”.
Wright later pleaded guilty to one count of possessing indecent images - covering all of the pictures, three counts of distribution, three counts of making such material - which relates to the act of downloading, and simple possession of Class B cannabis.
The indecent image possession charges related to 327 pictures in total between August 2015 and October 2021, while the making charges were for 46 videos and 80 still images at Category A; six videos and 73 stills at Category B; and four videos and 116 stills at Category C; and the distribution matters related to 16 Category A images, 11 at Category B and 11 at Category C.
Ms Tufail gave brief descriptions of some of Wright’s vile stash following a prompt from Judge Simon Berkson with a view to informing the public as to why Wright was being sentenced.
Videos and images contained "pre-pubescent" victims as young as three, with another example involving a girl of about seven to nine years, being abused including by rape.
Wright had no previous convictions.
Mark Lever, defending, said Wright had suffered a "brain injury" and has learning difficulties as well as "difficulty with his thinking skills", but has "never come to the attention of the criminal justice system" before.
He said Wright understands abuse images aren’t a "victimless crime".
The defence barrister suggested a suspended sentence might be imposed on the basis Wright had a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation".
Wright was "presently unemployed" having lost his job as a chef when "someone found out he had pleaded guilty" and he "had to leave".
Judge Berkson reminded Mr Lever that Wright had attributed his abuse image activity to using drugs when he was "a different man".
Mr Lever said Wright had used Class A and Class B drugs but was "now clean".
Judge Berkson sentenced Wright to two years and four months in prison to be served immediately.
He approved £420 in costs, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to run for 10 years alongside signing on the sex offenders register, and made a deprivation order for the phones.
Sending Wright to the cells, the judge said the images included Category A pictures - "the most terrible child abuse images" and these were distributed.
During his sentencing remarks, Judge Berkson said: "They involved a number of videos, which for obvious reasons is an aggravating feature.
"If you consider your still image counts as an individual still image, how many still images fill in a 23-second video.
"You had a 23-second video of a child aged three being horrendously abused by an adult.
"That’s an aggravating feature, and it’s not just because it’s a video but because of the young age of the child being abused.
"The evidence reveals you have a clear interest in child abuse.
"You are discussing such matters across the internet with like-minded people, which led to you distributing 16 Category A images to another person."
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