April 2014 Telford child abuse images man spared jail term A website designer was caught with more than 650 indecent images of children on his computer – just seven years after being jailed for grooming a 14-year-old girl for sex on the internet, a court heard. But despite John Tovey’s previous conviction and relapse, Judge Peter Barrie opted not to send the 44-year-old back to prison when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday. He will also be allowed to still use computers and access the internet – as long as he does not delete the web histories on them. The court heard Tovey used all his technical expertise to try and keep the images a secret – including saving them onto a separate removable hard drive and using hi-tech software to wipe internet histories. But police discovered 655 indecent images after raiding the house he shared with his mother in Corfield Crescent, Oakengates, Telford, in May 2012 and seizing his laptop computer. Tovey had protested his innocence right up until the day of his trial, claiming the images must have already been on the computer when he bought it. But, after a jury was sworn in, he changed his plea to guilty to two counts of making indecent images of children just before the trial was about to start. The court heard Tovey had been jailed for three-and-a-half years back in 2007 for engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl from London he had met and groomed on the internet. But despite that, Judge Barrie decided against prison and instead sentenced Tovey to a three-year community order. It will include carrying out 240 hours of unpaid work and attending the community sex offender group workshop programme, as well as being supervised by the probation service. Sentencing Tovey, Judge Barrie said: “You stand here today a hair’s breadth away from immediate custody.” Mrs Debra White, for Tovey, said the “great majority” of the images were at Level 1 in terms of seriousness, with one being the least and five the worst. She said her client had struggled for many years with mental health problems. “It is when he has had difficulties like this that he has gone on to use this material,” Mrs White said. November 2007 Paedophile jailed for three-and-a-half years A 37-year-old man who engaged in sexual activity with a 14-year-old Tulse Hill girl after meeting her on the internet has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. John Tovey, from Telford in Shropshire, was sentenced for 18 charges, which included making indecent photos of the girl, making her watch him masturbate on a web camera, asking her for photos of her trimming her pubic hair and sexually grooming the girl on two trips he made to London to visit her, in August and September. Although the prosecution told Inner London Crown Court on Friday that the girl had consented in the activities, Judge Lyndsey Burn said the girl had previously been abused by an older man, making her a vulnerable target for Tovey. “The laws are there partly to protect children from themselves,” he said. “You knew she was 14 years old. “You appear to think that such relationships are perfectly okay,” he added. Tovey was also put on the sex offenders’ register.