August 2023 Southend paedophile spared jail after 150 sexual images found A paedophile caught with more than 150 vile indecent images of children – some as young as five years old – has been banned from drinking alcohol by a judge.  Officers raided John Bistoquet’s Southend home, in Fowler Close, on May 18 last year and the defendant insisted to officers that he didn’t own a mobile phone.  However, a phone was found on the 52-year-old’s bed and seized by police.  Bistoquet admitted three charges of making an indecent photo of a child and appeared in Basildon Crown Court yesterday for sentencing.  Tim Sleigh-Johnson, prosecuting, said: “Mr Bistoquet’s phone contained 24 Category A images with one video. “The phone had 36 still Category B images and 108 Category C images, 23 images in Category A were unique with 89 Category C images being unique. “The age ranges of the children were as young as five years old, rising to young teenagers. “Mr Bistoquet was interviewed and confirmed he accessed the indecent images of children through the Kik application.” Category A images involve penetrative sexual activity, Category B images are non-penetrative, and Category C are others that do not fall into the first two categories. Judge Ian Graham addressed Bistoquet before sentencing. He said: “Mr Bistoquet you are charged with possessing 24 images in the most serious Category A for sexual activity. “There is a reason that these matters are criminal offences and the starting point of the sentence is one of imprisonment. “These are not just fantasies and made up images, these are images particularly in Category A of real-life children who somewhere, at some time, have been persuaded to forced into performing activities completely inappropriate for their age. Bistoquet was handed a community order of 18 months and is required to complete 60 days of rehabilitation activity. He is under an alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement for 120 days and a mental health treatment requirement for one year. He is also subject to a sexual harm prevention order and is on the sex offenders register for five years.