June 2008 63-YEAR-OLD CHILD PORN PERVERT JAILED A 63-YEAR-old Silloth man who downloaded child pornography on his computer was today behind bars after a judge told him his actions fuelled abuse. Detectives who examined the computer belonging to Keith Middlemiss, 62, found it contained 1,200 indecent images of children, including three that fell into the a more serious category because they showed the youngsters being sexually touched. Middlemiss, of Prospect Place, Silloth, admitted eight charges of possessing pornographic computer images of children and one charge of distributing such images via the internet. After hearing details of the offences at Carlisle magistrates court yesterday, judge Gerald Chalk jailed Middlemiss for two months, telling him: “Images of young girls in sexual poses must inevitably mean the abuse of those models and that they have been abused in order for those pictures to be taken.” The judge said that custody in such cases was inevitable, adding that the behaviour of people such as Middlemiss meant the trade in child pornography would continue. Peter Bayly, prosecuting, outlined how Middlemiss was identified as part of an internet trawl by the Metropolitan Police in London, who found he was accessing and sharing indecent images of children between August 2006 and October 2007. The Met contacted Cumbria Police, whose officers seized Middlemiss’s computer. In his police interview, Middlemiss admitted downloading and distributing obscene images of girls aged between ten and 16. Geoff Lockerbie, for Middlemiss, said: “This is a man who has been married for more than 40 years and without any shadow of doubt this offending has caused significant friction in his relationship with his family, although they are being extremely supportive.” Mr Lockerbie said the Middlemiss’s sons were helping him to dispose of his computer equipment, which was now virtually all gone from his home. A probation service report concluded that Middlemiss posed a low risk of reoffending, but he posed a medium risk of harm to children – though the judge said he did not believe the risk was significant. He was put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years.