May 2020 Exeter postman avoids prison after he was caught with and distrubuted baby rape pictures A postman from Exeter has avoided prison and instead been sent on a sex offenders’ course after he was caught with extreme child sexual abuse images which included a photo of a baby being raped. Darren Elston was caught after using the Kik messenger app to exchange some of the material with other paedophiles from his phone. He had a total of more than 1,200 images or movies on three phones which were seized by police when they raided his home in Exeter. Officers also found evidence that he had exchanged vile fantasies of child abuse and had searched out child images. He also had pictures of adults having sex with animals. He was working as a postman in Exeter at the time but was sacked as a result of his arrest and is now unemployed. Elston, aged 47, of Chancellors Way, Exeter, admitted six counts of making or distributing child abuse images and one of possessing extreme images. He was jailed for 18 months, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out the Maps for Change sex offenders’ course as part of 45 days of rehabilitation activities. He was also ordered to do 180 hours unpaid community work and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by Judge Timothy Rose at Exeter Crown Court. He told him: ”You now understand how feeding the market for these images, you bear personal responsibility for continuing the disgusting trade in the abuse of children.” Mr Robert Yates, prosecuting, said Elston was traced through his IP address after he used Kik Messenger to exchange images in 2018. Police seized three phones which contained a total of 1,254 images or movies of which 138 stills and 170 movies were at the worst level, showing children suffering serious abuse by adults. The most alarming image showed a baby of about six months of age being raped. He had sent 21 images to other Kik users, including two in the worst category A. There were also conversations discussing child abuse.