February 2016 Engineer hid identity to download 10,000 child abuse images A KINGSTEIGNTON man has admitted downloading more than 10,000 images of children being sexually abused. Darryl Hall, 52, used his computer skills to look for vile images and movies, Exeter Crown Court was told. He had tried to hide his identity using a portal name but police tracked him down and found the evidence when they raided his home near Newton Abbot. Among the images were 35 movies and 1,111 still images of the most extreme nature, some involving the abuse of very young children. The judge described them ‘abhorrent’ and jailed Hall for 16 months, suspended for two years. The defendant, an engineer, admitted seven offences of making indecent images of children. He was ordered to go an internet sex offenders treatment course. The police will be allowed to monitor his activities for ten years as part of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The Judge told Hall: “These were abhorrent images of very young children which you had been accessing for more than four years. “The aggravating factors are the high volume of images, the ages of the children and the fact that you searched for them deliberately and systematically. “These are not victimless crimes. The fact that many people viewed these images on peer to peer software does not diminish the criminality at all.” Mr Gareth Evans, prosecuting, said Hall was traced through his use of a peer-to-peer website where users share images. His home was raided in November 2014. Police found a total of 10,520 images and movies. Searches clearly indicated his interest in child abuse. Emmi Wilson, in mitigation, said Hall’s brother had been jailed for similar offences and he started looking at the images out of curiosity. He became addicted because he was lonely. She said Hall, of Rydon Estate, was keen to work with probation.