JOHN TOWERS FROM FAREHAM JAILED FOR VIEWING CHILD ABUSE IMAGES IN PORTSMOUTH

In June 2013, a man from Fareham was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of viewing nearly 2,000 images depicting child abuse. John Towers, aged 53 and residing on Hill Head Road in Fareham, appeared before Portsmouth Crown Court to face charges related to the possession of indecent images of children. He pleaded guilty to 20 counts of making such images, which led to his conviction and subsequent sentencing.

His arrest was part of a broader national police operation targeting online child abuse networks, specifically focusing on a notorious child abuse website. During a police raid at Towers’ residence, authorities discovered substantial evidence of his involvement in viewing illegal content. The officers seized his laptop and a tower unit, on which they found a total of 1,930 images of child abuse. These images ranged from very young children to teenagers, with some possibly as young as two years old.

In police interviews, Towers admitted that he had been viewing these images since he was made redundant from his job in 2008. He had been employed by the same company for 21 years before being laid off. After his redundancy, he experienced a series of setbacks, including another redundancy in 2010. His defense team argued that these employment losses contributed to his depression and feelings of failure, which he attempted to escape through internet searches and viewing of child abuse images. They emphasized that Towers did not produce or distribute the images; rather, he viewed and subsequently deleted them from his devices.

Prosecutor Jehad Mustafa detailed that Towers had openly admitted to police that he initially followed links from adult websites, which eventually led him to child abuse content. He explained that his viewing habits became a daily occurrence following his job losses. Towers reportedly claimed to have seen a wide range of illegal images, from infants to teenagers, indicating a compulsive pattern of viewing.

The court was informed that some of the images depicted children as young as two years old, highlighting the severity and disturbing nature of the material. It was also revealed that Towers considered himself to be ‘addicted to pornography’ and was undergoing counseling to address his issues.

During the sentencing, Recorder Tim Mousley QC emphasized the gravity of the crime, stating, ‘It is not just a case of downloading these images for your own gratification, it goes much further than that. These are never victimless crimes. They represent exploitation of young children of the most grievous kind which no doubt has a devastating effect on their young minds.’

He further explained that due to the large quantity of images, the variety of victims, and the age of the children involved, a custodial sentence was necessary. Towers was sentenced to serve one year in prison for each of the 20 charges, to run concurrently, with a minimum of six months to be served. Additionally, he was placed under an indefinite sexual offences prevention order to prevent any further offenses.