EDEN MAN DOWNLOADED HUNDREDS OF CHILD ABUSE IMAGES OVER A DECADE, COURT HEARS
AN EDEN Valley man downloaded hundreds of indecent child images over a decade of offending, starting when he was a schoolboy.Connor Saggers, 25, began accessing the illegal online content - including some abuse images classified as the most serious kind - when he was 14 years old, eventually downloading almost 800 indecent child images.
They included 332 which were Category A, the most extreme category of abuse image.
Police also found 205 Category B images and 262 Category C images.
He also viewed extreme pornography.
After his arrest, Carlisle Crown Court heard, Saggers was made the subject of a sexual risk order, which aimed to curb his internet use.
It included a requirement to obtain a phone capable of using police monitoring software.
But when the defendant’s offender manager checked this, he found that Saggers had secretly used his new phone for ten days without informing the police.
Despite not having the necessary software, he accessed Snapchat nearly 100 times.
There was also evidence that he used his device while it was set to “incognito” mode, thus leaving no record of his browsing history.
Police also discovered that he had downloaded a small number of indecent images – one that was Category B and another class as Category C.
The defendant, formerly of Great Asby, south of Penrith, admitted all the indecent child image offences, the extreme images offence, and breaching his sexual risk order.
A probation officer described his attitude to the court order and his offender manager as “wilfully deceitful.” Prosecutor Tariq Khawam said there were more than 7,000 other images accessed by the defendant for which the age of the young people featured could not be reliably established.
Though he did not give the court a detailed description of what the offending images showed, Mr Khawam said they were “extremely and deeply disturbing.” Gerard Rogerson, defending, said Saggers, who wept throughout the hearing, was “at something of a loss” to explain why he looked at the images which triggered his prosecution.
His offending behaviour coincided with a time in Saggers’ life which was “depressed and chaotic.” The defendant was aged four when his father died, after which he drank a bottle of Calpol, showing how deeply the loss affected him.
Later, in his teenage years, Saggers did not enjoy a close relationship with his mother’s new partner.
Though that relationship ended in 2017, Saggers lost his job and became susceptible to depression.
Working later as a scaffolder, he lost that job – and his girlfriend – when he was arrested in 2021.
Referring to a letter from the defendant, Mr Rogerson said; “He feels great remorse and is sorry for the crimes he has committed.” It was abundantly clear the defendant’s family – including his mother and auntie, who was in court – wanted to support him.
The barrister added: “He is willing to undertake whatever the Probation Service requires of him to help him turn his life around and avoid him finding himself in this situation again.” The judge highlighted the mental health background, the defendant’s remorse, his lack of previous offending, and the support he has from his family; he noted also that no rehabilitation work had yet been done with Saggers.
The defendant had served the equivalent of a year in jail since being remanded in custody, the court heard.
“The court and the wider public are better served by you working closely with an accredited programme,” said the judge, imposing a two-year community order which will feature a 26-session specialist programme of work.
There will also be ten rehabilitation activity days and 180 hours of unpaid work.
Saggers will be on the Sex Offender Register for five years and subject to a sexual harm prevention order, though this will not, as requested by the prosecution, include compulsory lie detector testing.
Earlier in the hearing, the court heard that Saggers will be homeless when he was released from jail, but Judge Barker pointed out that it was the defendant’s responsibility to find accommodation.
