July 2011 Man freed after indecent child images found A MAN who had more than 1,000 indecent images of children has been freed by a judge. John Hatton, of High Street, Stonehouse, was linked to 1,198 erotic images of children on a fake Croatian astronomy website in 2007. On Thursday he was sentenced to a community order and told to add his name to the sex offenders register at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court. Prosecuting solicitor Louise Pinder said police had started investigating Mr Hatton, 55, after linking his address to the fake site. She said: “Officers were carrying out a search warrant at the address and seized computer and media items.” She said all the 1,198 indecent images found were category one, the least serious, which covers images of erotic posing, with no sexual activity. She added: “The defendant was interviewed on two occasions and on each occasion he admitted possessing the pictures but he has denied receiving any sexual gratification from them.” The court was told the images featured children who are believed to be aged between 10 and 12. Gemma Bond, defending, said: “He is very remorseful and very sorry for what he has done.” District judge Joti Bopa-Rai said it was important Mr Hatton received help. She said: “These charges are serious because they involve children. They are lower-level but, nevertheless, they still come under the same legislation. In my view, it’s something you need to address quite quickly. We do not want this behaviour to escalate or be repeated.” Hatton was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with 12 months supervision, and he was ordered to pay £85 costs.