JOHN NUTTER FROM WATERFOOT SENTENCED FOR POSSESSING INDECENT IMAGES OF CHILDREN IN BURNLEY

In March 2019, a married man named John Edward Nutter, from Booth Road, Waterfoot, was found to have indecent images of children, including one featuring a baby, a court was told. Over a period from 2014 to 2017, Nutter downloaded a total of 203 such images and engaged in peculiar and worrying sex chats on social media over seven years. His online activity was discovered after Yahoo reported it to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

Prosecutor Lisa Worsley explained that this led to the National Crime Agency being notified, which subsequently executed a warrant at Nutter’s home in April 2017. During the search, officers confiscated a laptop, a desktop computer, and two mobile phones containing 13 Category A images—the most serious—along with 20 Category B and 170 Category C images. Worsley emphasized that the most explicit images involved a young girl and a baby.

In interviews, Nutter admitted the email account was his and claimed that while browsing a chat room, indecent images of children appeared from time to time. He stated, “He said he always clicked off them straight away and ended the chat.”

The court was informed that Nutter also engaged in explicit sex chats via Skype, where he expressed interest in teenage boys. Worsley noted, “I’m cognisant of the fact that in his pre-sentence report he says this is pure fantasy. Nevertheless he does fantasize such peculiar and worrying things.”

Nutter pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images. He received an eight-month prison sentence, which was suspended for 18 months, along with a requirement to participate in 40 days of rehabilitation activities. Additionally, he was issued a sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years.

Judge Andrew Jefferies QC remarked, “Nutter’s ‘dirty little secret is no longer’,” and emphasized the importance of addressing such behavior. He stated, “It’s important to realize that if people like you don’t look at [indecent images], then chances are people will stop making them and a whole number of children around the world would not be abused.”