ADAM LUMLEY JAILED IN NEWCASTLE FOR ONLINE PAEDOPHILIA AND ILLEGAL IMAGES
A man involved in a paedophile network who took illegal photographs of a child has been convicted of possessing and distributing thousands of indecent images of young people.Adam Lumley, 29, exchanged a large number of photographs and videos with other sex offenders over the internet.
Convicted of indecent exposure last year, he had gathered his disturbing collection between 2013 and 2020.
At Newcastle Crown Court, it was revealed that Lumley also distributed some of this material and was part of an online network of paedophiles sharing images.
He currently resides on Stanton Street, Arthurs Hill, Newcastle, and has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Judge Julie Clemitson emphasized the harm caused, stating: "A large number of victims were caused great harm in the making of those images.
People like you who trade in indecent images of children perpetuate the misery those children suffer as they are abused to produce those images for other people's sexual gratification." Lumley pleaded guilty to charges of distributing indecent images and possessing 2,611 of the most serious Category A images, including 1,628 videos.
He also had 1,674 Category B images and 3,021 Category C images, with the children depicted ranging in age from infants to 15 years old.
Police found many thousands of additional images on his devices and cloud accounts that had not been examined for legality.
He admitted he planned to upload some pictures he took of a child performing a private act in exchange for more material from other users.
Additionally, Lumley confessed to voyeurism, possession of extreme pornography involving an adult and a dog, and possessing prohibited images of children.
During police interviews, he openly acknowledged having a sexual interest in children.
Prosecutor Andrew Findlay described Lumley's online activities, saying: "He had spoken to others (on cloud platforms) about their interest in children, fantasising about sexual activity with children, and images were exchanged.
There’s clearly an active involvement in a network that creates and shares images of children." Lumley was sentenced to three years and two months in prison.
He was also placed under a sexual harm prevention order and required to register as a sex offender for ten years.
The court heard that his offending has led to the end of his marriage, and most of his family have distanced themselves from him due to their shock and disappointment.
His defense lawyer, Brian Hegarty, stated that Lumley had been upfront about his actions from the start.
He explained that Lumley had been viewing pornography since he was 13, shortly after the death of his father, with his mother having died when he was 11.
Mr.
Hegarty added: "He was very isolated and spent most of his time in his room engaged in what was believed to be gaming, but was actually viewing pornography.
Initially, he looked at adult pornography, but his searches led him to indecent images.
Over the years, this habit developed into a serious problem." He acknowledged that Lumley possessed a significant number of extremely disturbing images and videos.
