ALAN SMITH'S SHOCKING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE IN MOLD

In March 2008, the town of Mold was rocked by the sentencing of Alan Smith, a pensioner who was found guilty of possessing and creating indecent images involving children. Smith, aged 70, was convicted of multiple child pornography offences after he admitted to 12 charges related to the production of pseudo-photographs of children engaged in sexual acts.

The court heard that Smith had taken images of children from television broadcasts and magazines. Using advanced computer photo editing software, he manipulated these images by removing the children's clothing and superimposing adult bodies onto their heads. These altered images depicted various sexual acts, some of which were quite graphic, and Smith also added explicit text to further distort the images.

Further investigation revealed that Smith possessed over 700 such images stored across two laptops seized from his residence on Jasmine Crescent. During police interviews, Smith claimed that he was able to distinguish these images from real children and insisted that he had no intention of harming any actual minors. He maintained that he had no perception that the images were of real children and asserted that he would never physically harm a child in real life.

Judge John Rogers QC presided over the case at Mold Crown Court. He sentenced Smith to ten months in prison and ordered him to be registered as a sex offender for the next ten years. Additionally, Smith was subjected to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for the same period. The judge highlighted that this was not Smith’s first conviction related to indecent images; he had previously been jailed for two months by local magistrates following a similar offence in 2000.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Rogers acknowledged that the current case involved a significant number of images—specifically 707—and noted that 12 of these were classified at a more serious level. However, the sentence was somewhat mitigated because Smith had made full admissions and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, demonstrating remorse.

Prosecutor Caroline Harris provided additional context, revealing that Smith’s previous conviction in 2000 also involved similar offences, and that he had been placed on the sex offenders register. She explained that police had to execute a warrant at his home due to concerns over non-compliance with the register. During the search, officers discovered the images stored on two laptops, along with a flash drive, computer photo editing software, and two digital cameras. The items were handed over to the North Wales Police’s high-tech crime unit for further investigation.

Henry Gow, representing Smith, stated that his client was aware of the gravity of his actions and accepted that custody was inevitable. Gow emphasized that Smith understood the seriousness of the situation and acknowledged that the offences stemmed from issues within his mind. He clarified that Smith had never had any direct contact with a child nor physically harmed one, but he accepted the evidence presented by the prosecution.

Overall, the case underscored the ongoing concerns about the possession and creation of child exploitation images, even when no physical contact with children occurs. Smith’s case in Mold serves as a stark reminder of the legal consequences faced by individuals involved in such offences.