YORK MAN SENTENCED FOR CHILD INDECENT IMAGE OFFENCES
A victim of sexual abuse as a child is today himself a registered sex offender after police raided his home.Police officers found indecent videos and pictures of youngsters on Joe Carruthers’ phone, said Martin Butterworth, prosecuting.
Carruthers, now 36, of York Road, Haxby, pleaded guilty to three charges of having indecent images of children.
His barrister Zarreen Alam-Cheetham said he was genuinely remorseful for his crimes because he had been sexually abused when he was a schoolboy.
She added, “He is aware these are real victims and understands the impact of sexual abuse because he is still suffering himself.” Carruthers had a list of mental health problems and had been addicted to drugs from when he was at school.
At the time of the police raid, he was addicted to cocaine.
However, he is now seeking to improve his life with help from organisations including Safer Lives, a national rehabilitation group that works with sex offenders, and had not offended since the police raid nearly two years ago.
“She demonstrated he is someone capable of rehabilitation,” her statement said.
York magistrates sentenced him to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months, on condition he completes 24 days of rehabilitative activities and 100 hours of unpaid work.
He is registered as a sex offender for 10 years and subject to a sexual harm prevention order controlling his internet use for five years, with police monitoring it.
The police responded to a report in August 2023 that someone at his address had downloaded illegal images of children.
When they examined his phone, they found 25 videos and one picture of the most serious category of sexual images of children, four videos and four pictures of the least serious category, and three videos of the middle category.
His lawyer stated that Carruthers is working with a drug rehabilitation agency and has been drug-free, managing to clear debts and become financially stable for the first time in six years, abstaining from alcohol.
He has been diagnosed with four mental health issues including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder.
