BRIDGEND PERVERT KEITH PINTO JAILED FOR CHILD ABUSE IMAGES ON COMPUTER

In December 2001, a disturbing case emerged involving Keith Bryan Pinto, a resident of Bridgend, who was found to possess a large collection of indecent images of children on his personal computer. The authorities uncovered more than 1,300 explicit photographs stored on the hard drive of Pinto's PC, which was located at his home on Barnes Avenue, Cefn Glas.

During the court proceedings, prosecutor Greg Bull described the images as the most repugnant, abhorrent, and loathsome he had ever encountered. The photographs included images of children as young as two years old engaged in sexual activities, depicting a wide range of abuse. The severity of the material was emphasized by the fact that many of the children portrayed were toddlers, highlighting the heinous nature of the crimes.

Keith Pinto, aged 48 at the time, had earlier admitted to creating, possessing, and distributing indecent material with the intent to share it further. Despite this, he claimed during the trial that he had no interest in paedophilia and that the images were not of particular concern to him. The police investigation revealed that Pinto had been arrested at his home in May 2000. He acknowledged that the images were stored on his computer and admitted to downloading them after joining an internet chat room dedicated to individuals interested in sexual activities involving pre-teen children.

The offences spanned from September 1999 to May 2000. A police officer with expertise in such cases discovered a folder containing the graphic images, which included explicit scenes involving children. The court was shown the extent of the material, which depicted every conceivable form of sexual abuse, with some images showing children as young as two or three years old being degraded in ways that would horrify any reasonable person.

When questioned during his interview, Pinto claimed, “I don’t really look at them, they are just on there,” and described the images as “normal” sex images, a statement that drew significant condemnation from the court.

Defense lawyer Peter Heywood requested that the court consider Pinto’s early guilty plea, arguing that his involvement was limited to entering chat rooms where things escalated. He emphasized that Pinto could offer no explanation for his actions and insisted that he had no interest in paedophilia. The lawyer also pointed out that Pinto was going through a failed relationship shortly before the offences, which he claimed had a profound impact on him.

Ultimately, Judge John Griffiths-Williams sentenced Pinto to 18 months in prison. The judge also ordered that Pinto must inform the police of any change of name or address for a period of ten years following his release. In his remarks, the judge expressed his profound disgust at the material found on Pinto’s computer, stating, “In all my years as a barrister and judge I have never been required to look at photographs such as these. They show children, all prepubescent and some by my estimation as young as two or three, being degraded in ways which would revolt any right-thinking person and which could only gratify a pervert. Children can only be protected when perverts such as you realize they cannot have access to these photographs.”