DEAN ETCHELLS

BOLTON MAN SENTENCED FOR POSSESSION OF INDECENT IMAGES OF CHILDREN STRETCHING BACK 20 YEARS

A man who had indecent images and videos of children on his phone stretching back two decades has been sentenced at Bolton Crown Court.

Dean Etchells, aged 57, was found to possess over 21,000 indecent images and videos of children which he downloaded between 2003 and 2023.

Police tracked Etchells to his address on Downham Avenue, Bolton, and discovered the material stored on a laptop, a hard drive, and a phone.

The images included all three classifications, Category A, B, and C, with the children involved ranging in age from zero to 17 years old, mostly between eight and twelve.

The material's date ranges from June 19, 2003, to June 14, 2023, and includes screenshots and recordings of Facebook conversations with both adults and children.

Etchells pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent images of children.

His only prior offences were theft-related from his teenage years.

During sentencing, the judge described him as a 'very sad and lonely individual' who had downloaded a very large number of the worst kind of images.

Etchells was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with additional requirements including an 18-month community order, 40 rehabilitation days, a 10-year sex offenders register, and a sexual harm prevention order.