RINGWOOD PAEDOPHILE CHRISTOPHER PENFOLD CAUGHT VIEWING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN LOCAL LIBRARY

In a disturbing incident at the Ringwood library located on Christchurch Road, authorities uncovered evidence of a convicted paedophile using the public facility to access and view illegal child pornography. The incident came to light when a fellow library user noticed Christopher Penfold, aged 50 and residing on Winston Way in Ringwood, engaging with indecent images of children on one of the ten available public computers.

Following this observation, the concerned individual alerted library staff, who promptly contacted the police. Law enforcement officers responded swiftly to the scene and arrested Penfold at the library. During the subsequent search, officers discovered that Penfold was in possession of five recordable CDs. Among these, two contained photographs depicting semi-clothed children, estimated to be around 12 or 13 years old, posed in sexualized manners. The police also conducted a search of Penfold’s residence, which he shares with his father, and uncovered a CD that included footage of teenage boys at a swimming gala. The video showed the boys in the showers and changing rooms, naked, which further contributed to the evidence against him.

When questioned by police, Penfold maintained that he did not believe the images he possessed were indecent, a claim that did little to mitigate the severity of the charges. He faced a total of 23 counts related to the possession of indecent images. Ultimately, Penfold pleaded guilty to three of these counts. The court proceedings revealed that Penfold was living on benefits at the time and was responsible for caring for his father.

During the sentencing hearing, Recorder Susan Evans acknowledged that the images in question were indeed indecent but classified the material as a 'small amount' at level one on the obscenity scale, which is considered the lowest level of indecency. She imposed a fine of £500 on Penfold and entered a formal not guilty plea for the remaining 16 charges, leaving four charges on file with the possibility of being revived in the future. Additionally, Penfold was ordered to register as a sex offender for a period of five years.

Hampshire County Council issued a statement clarifying that Penfold did not download the images onto the library computer. Instead, he was using the library’s internet facilities solely to view images stored on his personal CDs, which he brought with him. This case highlights the ongoing concerns about safeguarding public spaces from individuals involved in illegal activities related to child exploitation.