March 2015 Child-minder’s husband caught with more than 221,000 indecent images of children jailed A childminder’s husband caught with a sick stash of more than 221,000 indecent photographs and videos of children was jailed for 10 months. David Ramsay, 68, admitted seven charges of possessing and downloading indecent images – some of sexual abuse victims as young as five. Liverpool Crown Court heard the offences were made worse by the fact that Ramsay’s wife would have been minding children in the house when he viewed the images. The pensioner, of Prenton, Merseyside, downloaded the images from October 2010 to May 2014 but was caught when police raided his home on May 8 last year Louise Santamera, prosecuting, said he confessed to officers he had looked at pictures of children and said: “I don’t agree with distribution.” During police interview the grandad claimed he had “kept meaning to delete the images” but had formed “an obsession”. A total of 658 of the indecent photographs recovered by police were of the most serious category, Category A. Some 4,030 were Category B and the rest – 217,147 – were the least serious, Category C. Ramsay had 1,587 video files, 51, of which were in Category A while the majority, 1,338, were in the least serious category. Ramsay, a former marine engineer and seafarer who retired in February “to spare his embarrassment”, had no previous convictions. Gerald Pachter, defending, said his client had made full and frank admissions and “100% co-operated with the police”. He said: “One can only imagine the effect this has had not only on him but on his family. His wife is in the gallery here – disgusted, appalled, ashamed – but supportive. “She said: ‘In all the years I have never seen my husband behave in an inappropriate manner to children in my care or take photographs that were of concern’.” He said Ramsay’s bedroom was out of bounds for children in her care. Mr Pachter added that Ramsay had given up a family holiday and spent £1,000 voluntarily attending a sex offending programme in Leeds. Judge Mark Brown made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting Ramsay’s use of computers for 10 years and told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register. He said: “I recognise this case is a tragedy both for you and your family. You are 68, you have no previous convictions, indeed you are a person of positive good character. “However, there is clearly a different side to your character.” The judge said it was a “vast” number of images which depicted “appalling” abuse. He said: “It is a fact that were it not for individuals such as you who wish to view such images then the market for them would not exist. “There is no doubt in my mind that public duty requires me to impose upon you an immediate sentence of imprisonment.” February 2015 Wirral OAP admits to vile stash of 220,000 indecent images of children Wirral pensioner David Ramsay – whose wife is a child minder – admitted having a sick stash of more than 220,000 indecent photographs of children – some as young as five. David James Ramsay, 68, of Littleton Close, Prenton, pleaded guilty to seven charges of possessing and making (downloading) indecent images at Wirral magistrates’ court today. The court heard the offences were aggravated by the fact Ramsay’s wife and children would have been in the house when he viewed the images. Prosecutor Amanda Cullen said his wife had also been a childminder, so had had other children in their home. She said: “Other aggravating features were the age of the children depicted – one was as young as five. There was visible distress suffered by one child.” Ms Cullen added that the case was further aggravated by the period of time covered by the charges – from October 2010 to May 2014 – as well as the high volume of images involved. A total of 658 of the indecent photographs recovered by police were of the most serious category, Category A. Some 4,030 were Category B and the rest – 217,147 – were the least serious, Category C. As well as the photographs, Ramsay had 1,587 video files, 51 of which were in Category A while the majority, 1,338, were in the least serious category. The other six charges each involved making (downloading) an indecent photograph on dates between 2010 and 2014. Ramsay spoke only to confirm his name, age and address and to give guilty pleas to all charges. Magistrates agreed with Ms Cullen’s submission that their powers of sentence were not sufficient, and the case was committed to a sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on March 13. Ramsay was told to sign the Sex Offender’s register after leaving the courtroom, and was released on bail subject to a string of conditions. He was told not to possess any device capable of connecting to the internet other than for work purposes in the company of another, not to possess a camera or camera phone without police agreement and to allow police to access his home to check such devices weren’t present. He was also ordered not to take any work with children under 17 or to be in the company of any child under 17 without police agreement, unless in the company of his grandchildren with agreement of their parents.