EAMONN LLOYD FROM LEICESTER SPARED PRISON AFTER VIEWING CHILD INDECENT IMAGES
In January 2013, a man from Leicester who was found to have viewed hundreds of indecent images of children at his home was ultimately spared from a prison sentence, receiving instead a community order.Eamonn Lloyd, aged 47 and residing on Percival Street, off Humberstone Road in Leicester, was discovered to have downloaded numerous images depicting children aged between five and 15.
Despite the severity of his actions, Lloyd maintained to police that he had no sexual interest in children, a claim that was scrutinized during the court proceedings.
Leicester Crown Court heard that Lloyd, who was described as a man of previously good character, had initially engaged in viewing adult pornography before progressing to viewing indecent images of minors.
He faced multiple charges, including 10 counts of making indecent images and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic material, with the offenses committed between May 19 and September 26, 2011.
One of the extreme images involved a person performing a sexual act with a snake, highlighting the disturbing nature of the material involved.
During the police search of Lloyd’s residence, two laptop computers were recovered.
Prosecutor Victoria Rose revealed that a total of 386 images were found on these devices.
The images were categorized by their level of seriousness: 221 were classified at the lowest level, 27 at the next level, 58 at level three, 77 at level four, and three at the most severe level five.
This classification underscores the disturbing content that Lloyd had accessed.
In his defense, Jackie Callan, representing Lloyd, explained that her client was currently unemployed and had previously worked as a grounds maintenance worker.
She described how Lloyd’s viewing habits began while he was alone at home, with his wife at work and his adult daughter out.
Callan emphasized that Lloyd did not perceive the images as depicting real children, suggesting a lack of malicious intent.
She portrayed Lloyd as a quiet, shy individual who had been married for over 20 years, and noted that he had lost his job and self-esteem as a result of his actions.
She also pointed out that most of his time was spent on the computer, implying a degree of social withdrawal.
Judge Sylvia De Bertodano delivered her verdict, sentencing Lloyd to a three-year community order.
The conditions of the order included supervision and participation in a sex offender rehabilitation program.
The judge also emphasized that the images Lloyd viewed were of real children and were created for a market targeting individuals like him.
She stated, “If people did not want to see these images, there would be no market for them.” Furthermore, Lloyd was subjected to a sexual offences prevention order and was ordered to sign the sex offender register for five years.
The judge described Lloyd as being “naive, rather than dangerous,” and noted that he had deleted all the images he had viewed rather than accumulating a collection, which was seen as a mitigating factor in his case.
