ALAN CHURCH OF GRAVESEND SENTENCED FOR POSSESSING CHILD ABUSE IMAGES

In May 2011, a man from Gravesend was jailed after being found with illegal and disturbing images on his computer. Alan Church, aged 50, of Bartlett Road, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to a total of eight months in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of possessing indecent images.

Police discovered 139 video clips and 13 still images featuring children on Church’s home computer in June the previous year. Among these were images showing a sex act involving a horse.

Prosecutor Keith Yardy explained to the court that Church used his computer to search for various types of pornography, including content involving children, due to sexual difficulties with his wife. He disclosed that Church admitted to initially searching for adult material before moving on to terms related to child pornography, specifically mentioning PTHC.

Mr. Yardy recounted that Church said, “He started off searching for movies when his wife was at work. He said he didn’t always look at what he downloaded, and those he did look at he did not view all the way through. He said he didn’t know why he looked at them, he just did.”

The defense lawyer, Christina Rowberry, told the court that Church had become “desensitized” to the extreme nature of the images. She added, “The images and downloading of pornography in general occurred when there were sexual difficulties between himself and his wife.” It was also noted that Church’s wife, who was not present in court, was unaware of his internet activity.

Before sentencing, the judge, Philip Statman, viewed some of the images downloaded by Church. He sentenced him to eight months in prison, to run concurrently with any other sentence, with half of that time to be served. Church was also issued a sexual offenders prevention order for five years and will be registered as a sex offender for ten years.

During sentencing, Judge Statman remarked, “In the comfort of your own home you have downloaded many clips and stills of acts of horrendous sexual abuse being practised on children by adults. I have seen a selection of that which you downloaded. The faces of those young children are haunting. They display no emotion as they are being abused. They have no-one to turn to. And you downloaded those images for your own sexual gratification.”

The judge also acknowledged that friends and family had described Church as a “kind, generous person,” but emphasized that “You have brought shame upon yourself and your family.” Addressing the impact of his actions, Judge Statman praised Church’s wife: “The impact of what you have done has had a devastating effect on your wife, who has stayed by you to her humongous credit.”