June 2010 Penrith man part of international paedophile ring A MAN who shared abusive images of children he had taken as part of an international paedophile ring was jailed for more than three years. Ian Burns (42), Porthouse Road, Penrith, appeared from custody at Carlisle Crown Court before Judge Barbara Forrester on Friday. Mr. David Birrell, prosecuting, told the court that on 20th April Burns had pleaded guilty to five charges of distributing indecent images of a child. All of these were of one child aged under 13 and had been of level one pornographic images of children are classed in seriousness from level one to five, with five the worst. Burns had also admitted five charges of taking indecent images of a child, again all of level one and of one child aged under 13, and 10 charges of making indecent images of children, including three level four images. Mr. Birrell said Burns was part of an international ring of paedophiles exchanging indecent images of children. His crimes were discovered when police in Australia investigating a case involving child pornography discovered Burns’s link and alerted British police. On 11th January Burns’s laptop computer was seized from his wagon and a total of 90 indecent images of children were found ranging up to level four the second most serious category. The court heard that indecent images of children which had been taken by Burns were distributed using two websites on which users can create their own pages accessible only by a password. The password was given to other users to view the images and in exchange he was given passwords to view their images, including some of their own children and relatives. Mr. Birrell said that Burns had previous convictions for making and possessing indecent images of children in 2004. He had been dealt with at Penrith Magistrates’ Court, receiving a community order. Mr. Birrell said the case had “an international flavour”. The FBI in America had also contacted British police after Burns was found to have subscribed to a child porn website. A computer was seized from his home and a total of 44 indecent images of children were discovered. Burns had also visited websites which posted 500,000 pornographic images of children. Miss Alison Whalley, defending, said Burns had already been in custody for more than 100 days since 17th February. She admitted he had been offending for some time and on a large scale. As part of his last community order he had made some progress in the sex offenders’ program but had then reoffended. Miss Whalley said Burns was thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour and following his arrest had made a serious suicide attempt. Judge Forrester said Burns had exchanged images with like-minded people in Australia, America and Canada, and he had had long conversations about the images, making serious sexual comments about the children. She said the effect on the children pictured in the images would not be known for years and they were the innocent victims of such crimes. She sentenced him to three years and four months in custody, to include the 113 days he has already spent in jail. After serving half the sentence he will be released on licence. Burns was also ordered to be listed on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period and was banned from entering swimming pools, schools, children’s play grounds or any place where children are likely to be present for recreational purposes. The images will be destroyed.