CARLO ROSATO FROM ST ALBANS ESCAPES JAIL DESPITE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSES

In a case that has shocked the community of St Albans, Carlo Rosato, a 26-year-old resident of Lemsford Road, was recently sentenced for possessing a vast collection of child pornography images, yet he avoided imprisonment through a community order. The court proceedings revealed that Rosato had been involved in these disturbing activities for several years, with the offenses dating back to at least 2006.

Rosato's criminal record includes a previous conviction for arson in 2007, for which he served three years in prison. His latest charges stem from the discovery of thousands of indecent images of children stored on his computers. The case came to light after his girlfriend's father took Rosato's laptop to the police station, leading to an investigation that uncovered the extent of his illegal activities. Additionally, fingerprint analysis linked Rosato to child pornography found at a prior residence on Verulam Road, further implicating him in these serious offenses.

The court heard that the initial discovery of illicit material was made in 2006 when a fellow resident of a shared accommodation in St Albans found a magazine containing pornographic images of children stored in a filing cabinet within a communal bathroom. This resident promptly reported the matter to the police. Subsequent fingerprint examinations confirmed that Rosato's prints matched those on the magazine, establishing his involvement.

In February 2007, the situation escalated when the father of Rosato's girlfriend approached Chippenham police station with a computer believed to contain sexual images of children. The police identified Rosato as the primary suspect, and three days later, he was arrested at his family home. During the search, authorities seized a computer tower from the premises, which contained over 3,000 images. These images were classified across various levels of severity, with many at the most serious levels, including level three and level five, indicating highly explicit material.

Legal guidelines suggest that offenses of this nature typically warrant a custodial sentence ranging from four weeks to 18 months. However, Judge Michael Baker, presiding over the case at St Albans Crown Court, decided against immediate imprisonment. He explained that although the crimes clearly exceeded the threshold for custody, there were compelling reasons to opt for a community order instead. The judge emphasized that Rosato's offenses were old and that a custodial sentence would hinder his ability to participate in necessary sex offender treatment programs.

Judge Baker stated, “This offence is clearly over the custody threshold and you could have no complaints if I did send you to prison today. There are two reasons why I won’t. The first is less significant, but the offences are old. The second, of much more importance, is the fact that if I send you to prison it would not be practicable to undergo the sex offender treatment programme while in custody.”

As part of his sentence, Rosato is required to participate in a sex offenders treatment program and to register as a sex offender for five years. He was also issued a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which prohibits him from owning software capable of deleting data and mandates police access to his computers at any time. These measures aim to prevent further offenses and monitor his compliance with the court's directives.