November 2020 Paedophile dad downloaded more than 30,000 indecent images of children A father collected more than 30,000 indecent images of children and searched for material featuring kids as young as seven. Dean Shaw, of Rowland Street South, Atherton was sentenced today (November 17) at Bolton Crown Court, having previously pleaded guilty to possessing indecent photographs of children. Police carried out a warrant on the 47-year-old’s home on August 2 2018 and found a laptop, a computer and four mobile phones, prosecution barrister Paul Treble told the court. After examining his electronic equipment, officers found more than 30,000 indecent images of children. The vast majority of the images were classified as Category C, ten were Category B images and one was the most serious type of indecent photograph; a Category A image, featuring a 14-year-old girl performing a sexual act on a man. Mr Treble also told the court that Shaw had made searches for photographs featuring children as young as seven and used a VPN to mask his IP address. When Shaw was arrested he gave a no comment interview but later pleaded guilty at the first possible opportunity. Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Shaw to a three-year community order and ordered Shaw to complete the Horizon sex offenders programme, as well as 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days. Addressing Shaw in the dock, he said: “It’s a great disappointment to people that know you that this has happened. You’ve brought great shame upon yourself. The shock and shame of being caught will be a prevention from you doing anything like this again. If you do something like this again you can’t expect the same treatment.” Judge Stead made a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and Shaw will be forced to sign the sex offenders register for five years. The electronic devices, on which the indecent images were stored, will also be destroyed.