July 2019 Serial paedophile Christopher Norris back in jail for third child abuse images conviction A SERIAL sex offender is back behind bars after he was caught with child abuse images for the third time. Christopher Norris, from Cwmbran, was locked up again at Cardiff Crown Court after he used his wife’s laptop to search for them. The 66-year-old paedophile admitted having the sick pictures on a USB stick and deleting internet data which he was prohibited from doing after a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) was previously imposed. In 2008 he was jailed for six years for indecently assaulting a girl under 14 and for possessing and distributing indecent images of children in a case that involved 47 different offences. And in 2015 Norris, of Fields Road, Oakfield, was jailed for four years for further crimes involving child abuse images. He was sent to prison for a further 16 months by the Recorder of Cardiff, Judge Eleri Rees. Prosecutor Hashim Salmman said Gwent Police became aware of his latest offending after gaining intelligence from child protection software during an operation. Officers raided Norris’ home in May and a USB stick was found which contained five indecent images of children, including two category A films representing the most extreme form of sexual abuse. Mr Salmman added: “On a laptop, torrent files indicative of indecent photographs of children were found and files in the recycling bin had been deleted.” Hywel Davies, mitigating, said: “The defendant has attended numerous courses without benefit. “He told me he had accessed these recent images out of curiosity and that there was no sexual gratification.” Mr Davies further added that his client had entered an early guilty plea and had not distributed the images. Jailing him, Judge Rees said his offending was aggravated by his previous convictions. He has to register as a sex offender for life and was made subject of a new SHPO for an indefinite period. April 2015 Already convicted paedophile jailed for possessing indecent images of children A CWMBRAN man has been sentenced to four years in prison for possessing and distributing hundreds of indecent images of children. Christopher Norris, 62, was also jailed for six years back in 2008 for similar offences as well as a historic sexual assault offence, Cardiff Crown Court heard yesterday. Norris, of Milton Close in Cwmbran, had pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent photographs, three counts of distributing indecent photographs, and a further count of breaching a sexual offences prevention order in relation to his previous conviction. Prosecutor Gareth James said a Toshiba laptop, an Acer laptop, and a USB stick were recovered from Norris’ home, during a police search on December 10 last year. The court heard indecent images and films were recovered from all three devices, with a total of 403 in category A – the most serious – 224 in category B, and a further 370 in category C. Police said the laptops’ search histories showed a “determined search for child abuse images”, the court heard. Mr James said Norris told police that he distributed some of the images and films to others with a similar interest. Norris also told police he had an interest in girls from the age of nine upwards but that on occasions he “would be disgusted with himself”, the court heard. David Maunder, defending, said: “These are always difficult cases. In interview, [he gave] full and frank admissions including the way he felt towards himself. “It’s almost impossible to try and explain in any sense this behaviour, but it would appear it must have gone back to a dysfunctional family home. “He equates [his offending] to an addiction. He doesn’t want to be doing it. “The defendant was visibly crestfallen when he was told there is no alternative to a custodial sentence – he had benefitted from rehabilitation. This is a major setback.” Judge Patrick Curran QC said although Norris had benefitted from the treatment programme, he had not been able to “resist the temptation to indulge”. He was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, of which he will serve half in custody. Norris was also prohibited from having any contact with any child under the age of 16 under the sexual harm prevention order. Aug 2008 Paedophile’s jail term slashed A GWENT paedophile who abused a young girl and possessed hundreds of child abuse images is not a danger to the public, top judges ruled yesterday. Taxi driver Christopher Norris, 54, formerly of Upland Drive, Trevethin, Pontypool, had a potentially life-long jail term slashed to just six years in prison by the Court of Appeal – a move criticised by a senior Gwent police officer. He was given an indefinite term of imprisonment(IPP) at Cardiff Crown Court in March this year, after admitting 46 offences including indecent assault, gross indecency with a child, making indecent photographs, distributing indecent photographs of a child and possessing indecent photographs of a child. The IPP meant Norris could have no hope of release until he could convince the Parole Board it was safe to do so. The court heard Norris was arrested in December 2007 after a complaint that he had indecently assaulted a young woman in the back of his taxi. No charges were brought, but Norris confessed to police officers he had a fascination with child pornography. A computer and a number of phones were searched, and hundreds of images and videos – some depicting child pornography in the most serious category Ð- were seized. During police inquiries, an adult woman came forward to say she had been molested by Norris when she was a child, while police also found a video showing a young girl being abused. Sentencing him in March, Judge Stephen Hopkins told Norris: “You fed this evil industry of child pornography and encouraged child sexual abuse.” He said Norris was not just depraved, but was a very dangerous man who posed a serious risk to the public. But top appeal judges yesterday ruled this was not the case. The judges said Norris had abused the young girl many years previously, and had not carried out similar attacks since. They added he had co-operated with police and, although he had left a “vile” message expressing a sexual interest in an another man’s five-year-old step-daughter, he had not taken the matter any further. Detective Superintendent Rhiannon Hodges of Gwent Police’s public protection unit told the press “It is my view that possessing and distributing these indecent images is child abuse and I would feel it does constitute serious risk to the public. “However, we clearly have to abide by the Court of Appeal decision and when he is released back into the community, if it is in Gwent, we will have to reassess the risk he poses and manage that risk in accordance with the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA).”