LEE BAYLISS SENTENCED IN PRESTON FOR REPEATED OFFENCES INVOLVING CHILD INDECENT IMAGES
A man named Lee Bayliss, of Sephton Drive, Ormskirk, was convicted of possessing a large collection of indecent images of children, some as young as two years old.The images included girls aged between two and ten, with some categorized as Category A, depicting children pre-pubescent and aged between two and ten years.
Bayliss used specific search terms such as '13yo' and 'girl w***' to access these abusive images.
Over a period of two years, which began shortly after he received a community order, Bayliss amassed more than 1,100 disturbing images.
In 2018, a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) was issued against him at Gloucester Crown Court.
The order prohibited him from deleting any search history and required him to hand over any internet devices upon request by authorities.
Despite these restrictions, Bayliss attempted to conceal his activities by using virtual software to access the internet, though these attempts were ultimately discovered.
Lancashire Constabulary officers visited Bayliss’s home on August 6 last year as part of routine monitoring of his status as a sexual offender.
Peter Barr, the prosecutor, explained: "As part of routine monitoring of Mr.
Bayliss as a sexual offender, police attended his home address.
He opened the door and allowed the officers in." During the visit, Bayliss handed over an iPhone 6, an HP laptop, and an Android Zebra mobile device.
However, police noticed an iPhone 4 connected to power that he had not surrendered.
Initially claiming it had been wiped, Bayliss suggested he couldn’t recall when, but inspection revealed it was recently connected to his Wi-Fi and contained little data.
Further investigation uncovered the use of virtual software to operate the Mac computer, which Bayliss initially denied owning, claiming it was disassembled and unused.
Additionally, he had previously paused or deleted Google data in the Android device’s account, breaching his SOPO.
Despite insisting he had not viewed pornography and asserting no traces were found on his devices, police discovered evidence indicating frequent access to illicit material on a Nokia phone.
Search terms included ‘13yo’, ‘teen’, and ‘girl w***’.
The images included 74 Category A images of girls aged between two and ten.
Bayliss, who has two prior convictions for 15 offences, earlier pleaded guilty to breaching his SOPO by deleting data and possessing indecent images of children.
His defense lawyer, Kristian Cavanagh, acknowledged that Bayliss recognizes the severity of his actions and attributes his offending to a lapse, expressing his desire to cease viewing such images.
Judge Simon Medland QC described the case as a serious and persistent breach of conditions, noting the offenses occurred while Bayliss was effectively on license shortly after his community order.
The judge expressed disappointment that Bayliss had not understood the wrongfulness of his behavior when originally ordered in 2018.
Bayliss was sentenced to 27 months in prison for his repeated violations.
