FREDRICK WINTER IN UPTON NEAR GAINESBOROUGH SLAPPED WITH COMMUNITY ORDER DESPITE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

In August 2012, Fredrick Rock Winter, aged 63, avoided jail despite his involvement in possessing and downloading indecent images of children.

Winter was arrested in January 2010 when police executed a search at his residence in the village of Upton, close to Gainsborough. During the raid, authorities seized his computer and several disks.

Prosecutor Phil Howes told Lincoln Crown Court on Monday that authorities discovered a total of 193 indecent images of children on Winter’s computer, with an additional 1,143 images stored on disks. He stated, "The images featured toddlers as young as 12 months old."

According to Mr. Howes, more than 400 of these images were classified under the most severe categories. Some of the videos linked to the images extended up to half an hour.

Winter claimed that he initially accessed the images innocently but later went on to save them onto disks. He admitted to five counts of making indecent images of a child and two of possessing a total of 1,336 indecent images, all committed on January 18, 2010.

The court was informed that Winter, of Main Street, Upton, received a three-year community order, which includes supervision, along with a requirement to attend a sex offender rehabilitation program.

Judge Sean Morris remarked, "I would dearly love to lock you up but I’m afraid that after two and a half years it would probably be an affront to justice. I feel my hands are tied. If you had come before the court at the proper time you would have served your sentence by now."

Ian Groom, defending Winter, commented on the case, describing it as 'the simplest of cases,' but emphasized the prolonged period of two years before charges were filed.