October 2021 Man who shared child abuse images back in court after breaching order A paedophile who was jailed for sharing “revolting” child abuse images was hauled back before a judge after breaching an order monitoring his use of electronic devices. Father-of-three John Baker, 44, was jailed for two years in 2017 after he was found to have possessed and distributed indecent images of children. Chelmsford Crown Court heard some of the “troubling” images involved the abuse of babies. He was also made the subject of a ten-year sexual harm prevention order, which monitors and restricts his use of electronic devices. He was hauled back into court on Wednesday after admitting to breaching that order by restoring one of his phones to factory settings in Colchester. Such a move is prohibited under the order as it also deletes his internet history. Baker, of no fixed address, admitted one count of breaching a sexual harm prevention order. Alex Davidson, mitigating, said while Baker’s prior crimes were “revolting”, he had “maintained all along” his plan was to reset his old iPhone in order to gift it to his daughter. He said: “This is not a man who has been regularly and habitually hiding what he does with his devices, he has been to his credit very candid.” He also criticised the delay in sentencing his client. He said: “His life has been on hold for the last ten months, he’s on new anti-depressants due to the anxiety of waiting to be sentenced and the drinking that’s going on is linked to that.” Judge David Turner QC said he was “broadly inclined” to accept Baker’s excuse for restoring the phone to factory settings. “From the word go you offered the explanation you were planning to give this phone to your daughter, you’d got a new phone yourself,” he said. He said Baker had otherwise complied well with the order and noted he was the one who raised the factory reset with his monitoring officer. But he called the offence “entirely avoidable”, adding: “You must have known you were doing something with a phone you shouldn’t have been doing.” Baker was hit with an 18-month community order, consisting of a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a £150 fine. January 2017 Chelmsford paedophile who admitted sharing child abuse images denies being charged in video outburst A Chelmsford paedophile admitted a string of child sex offences just minutes before he appeared on camera and claimed he hadn’t even been charged. John Baker, 40, of Moss Walk, pleaded guilty to making, sharing and holding indecent pictures and videos of children when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (January 25). Despite admitting all eight charges leveled against him, as Baker left the court, he told our reporter: “I’ve not been charged mate.” When asked if he had a message for the victims of the pornography, Baker said: “Victims? I ain’t done nothing.” Last February, police arrested Baker at his home and seized several devices after receiving intelligence that images of children had been accessed from his address. He was charged shortly after. Baker admitted to making 80 photographs in category A, the most serious classification for indecent material, as well as distributing a further 21. The defendant also pleaded guilty to distributing 13 images in category B and 2 in category C; making 61 in category B and 69 in category C; and possessing four prohibited images of children. He also accepted that he held extreme pornography involving a dog. Grace Court, prosecuting, revealed that some of the pornography showed penetrative sexual abuse on children “who appear to be no older than 18 months”. But counsel for the defence, Josh Scouller, said his client claims not to remember viewing the images because of drug and alcohol abuse. Ms Court said: “When spoke to by police, the defendant accepted he had sent images to others through his Dropbox account. “During forensic examinations, it immediately became apparent the devices were filled with indecent material. “They were held in folders entitled ‘Hot’ and ‘YCP’, meaning young child porn. “He had been in contact with numerous people online, with whom he distributed these images.” According to Mr Scouller, Baker does not know why he committed the offences. “He says at the time he was taking a huge amount of cocaine and drinking alcohol heavily,” Mr Scouller said. “He doesn’t remember accessing many of these images but accepts it must have been him. “He provided details to the police and effectively assisted them with their investigation.” After the defendant appeared in the dock, chewing gum, chair of the magistrates Malcolm Bell said: “Whatever you have got in your mouth, get rid of it.” Baker has previous convictions for driving with excess alcohol and failing to comply with a community order. He was remanded on bail until he appears for sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court on February 15. The defendant has been ordered not to make unsupervised contact with a child unless accompanied by an adult over 25.