ANDREW JOINSON AND SHOCKING CHILD SEX IMAGE OFFENCES IN LINCOLNSHIRE
A man with a disturbing pattern of possessing indecent images of young children has been sentenced to prison following a conviction that highlights a prolonged and unchecked addiction to viewing such material.Andrew Joinson, aged 48, of Merton Road, Bottesford, Scunthorpe, was found to have committed serious offenses involving the possession of illegal images of minors, some as young as four years old.
Joinson’s criminal actions came to light after the National Crime Agency (NCA) provided intelligence to Humberside Police about illicit images linked to his residence.
Following this, authorities conducted a search of Joinson’s electronic devices, which led to the discovery of a substantial collection of indecent imagery.
Specifically, police uncovered 103 images classified as Category A, the most severe tier, alongside 46 in Category B and 292 in Category C.
These images depicted children aged as young as four, with the majority of the victims estimated to be between five and seven years old.
The NCA’s investigation further revealed that Joinson had been actively searching for and uploading these illicit images to a Dropbox account, indicating an ongoing engagement with the material.
This discovery was particularly troubling given Joinson’s prior criminal record for similar offenses.
In 2016, he had been convicted of distributing and creating indecent images of children, which resulted in a 26-week suspended prison sentence and placement on the sex offenders’ register.
At Grimsby Crown Court, Joinson admitted to three counts of possessing indecent images of children, all dated September 28, 2021.
Prosecutor Jeremy Evans conveyed that law enforcement officials acted swiftly upon the intelligence, which ultimately led to his arrest and the seizure of multiple electronic devices.
The evidence clearly demonstrated that Joinson had an unhealthy obsession with these images, despite previous interventions.
During mitigation proceedings, Bianca Brasoveanu highlighted that Joinson was forthcoming with the police, making honest admissions about his collection.
She clarified that the majority of the images he possessed were in the lowest category, Category C, and emphasized there were no charges related to the distribution of the images.
Brasoveanu also noted that Joinson, who is married with a son, was assessed by probation officers as being at a low risk of reoffending.
However, she acknowledged that viewing such images is a compulsive behavior, often described as an addiction, which carries significant risks of relapse.
She stated, “This is exactly what happened to him,” implying that his previous efforts at rehabilitation had failed to break the cycle.
Judge Mark Bury sentenced Joinson to 10 months in prison.
In his remarks, the judge expressed his disappointment that Joinson had failed to change after his earlier conviction and rehabilitation efforts.
He pointed out that Joinson had been previously warned and given an opportunity to desist from offending, including participation in a sexual offenders’ program.
The judge emphasized the seriousness of the offenses, stating, “You have been to court before for offences like this.
You were not sent to custody on that occasion.
You were given an opportunity of rehabilitation including a sexual offenders' programme requirement.
Well, that didn’t do any good.
You are still offending.
You are looking at images of children.” He concluded by making a stark observation: “It’s wholly unrealistic to expect that you should be dealt with in any other way than an immediate custodial sentence when you have done exactly the same thing and carried on your addiction to indecent images of children.
You plainly have a sexual interest in children, otherwise you would not be looking at these things.”
