BRIAN DEAN CAUGHT IN FALMOUTH AND PAIGNTON CHILD ABUSE IMAGE SCANDAL

In August 2017, a disturbing case emerged involving Brian Dean, a man with ties to both Falmouth and Paignton, who was found guilty of viewing child abuse material on his work laptop. The incident came to light after police investigations revealed Dean's involvement in accessing and viewing highly illegal content.

Dean, a former manager at the Citizen's Advice Bureau in Paignton, had left his position in 2015 following a police raid on his family home. During the raid, authorities seized a laptop from the lounge of his residence. The investigation uncovered that Dean had taken an old laptop home and used it to watch two movies depicting young girls engaged in sexual acts with adult men. These movies were part of a larger collection, including a total of 48 photographs and videos, some of which were downloaded around the same time as Dean accessed his email accounts on the device.

At the time of the raid, Dean was 56 years old and residing at Budock Terrace in Falmouth. He faced multiple charges, including three counts of making indecent images of children. However, during the trial, Dean denied the charges, claiming that many other individuals at the Citizen's Advice Bureau had access to the laptop, which he argued could have been used by others to download the illegal material.

Despite his denial, Dean was convicted of one count related to the creation of two indecent images. The court found that he had downloaded two movies classified as Category A, indicating the most severe level of child abuse material, which involved penetrative acts. The jury was convinced by evidence that included the timing and dating of the files, which linked them directly to Dean's usage. The court cleared him of the remaining charges.

Judge Rufus Taylor, presiding over the case at Exeter Crown Court, sentenced Dean to six months in prison, suspended for one year. Additionally, Dean was ordered to register as a sex offender and was placed under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. This order grants authorities the ability to monitor his internet activity in the future, aiming to prevent any further offenses.

The judge emphasized the seriousness of the offense, stating, “I interpret the verdict as being that you were convicted of downloading two Category A movies which the prosecution was able to time and date. The jury disbelieved you and your evidence.”

During the two-day trial, evidence was presented indicating that file-sharing software was present on Dean’s computer, which could have been used to download the illegal material from the internet. Most of the files had been deleted, but investigators recovered three movies and six still images classified as Category A, which involves the most severe forms of child sexual abuse. The titles of some movies suggested the involvement of very young girls, possibly as young as seven or eight years old.

Prosecutor Brian Fitzherbert detailed the police operation, explaining that on June 19, 2015, officers raided Dean’s former home on Pines Road in Paignton. They seized several devices, but the only one containing offensive material was an Acer laptop kept in the living room. Dean’s wife, Sally, confirmed that the laptop was solely used by him. The police found three movies and six still images in the most serious category, indicating penetrative sexual acts involving children, highlighting the gravity of the case and the disturbing nature of the content involved.