May 2003 Convicted paedophile avoids prison over child rape images A CONVICTED paedophile who downloaded child abuse images and distributed it to other perverts over the Internet has escaped a prison sentence. Mark Craggs, 25, of North Drive, Aylesbury, appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court on Monday afternoon after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing. Craggs faced a possible 10-year jail sentence for the offences of making and distributing indecent images, some of men raping young girls, but he was handed only a two-year community rehabilitation order. After being sentenced Craggs received life bans from the Scouts, having been working with youngsters as a 9th Aylesbury Cub Scout leader, and the St John Ambulance, for whom he was a volunteer at the Aylesbury branch. Craggs appeared in court with his hair dyed blond since his last court appearance, his beard shaved off and his glasses removed. Judge Roger Connor said he could not rule out that Craggs had deliberately taken on jobs with children to pursue a sexual interest in young people, but spared him a prison sentence because he was ‘a young man of good character’. The pervert was arrested at his family home on September 27, 2002 after police viewed images on his computer and found 25 indecent images amid a mass of adult pornography. In court on Monday, defence lawyer John Riley said Craggs was not a habitual collector and had only possessed a small amount of indecent material. Speaking in mitigation, he said: “He had a considerable amount of adult pornography. Having seen many of these cases, in terms of volume this is very low and shows that the defendant has virtually no interest (in child pornography). “There is no financial gain (for the distribution of the images). Although he pleads guilty, he is not able to accept the full ramifications of his plea. Mr Craggs is not a person without worth.” Passing sentence, Judge Connor said: “Although you only downloaded these pictures from the Internet and made some of them available to others, you bear responsibility in part for what was done to these children, because if people didn’t download material, other evil people would not be putting it on the Internet or abusing children.” But he said Craggs’ previous good character had spared him prison. He added: “The number of images involved in this case is small, although the video clips are particularly nasty. “The probation officer said ‘I would assess the risk of serious harm from you as medium’. The possibility of your sexual interest in children cannot be ruled out.” Along with the two-year community rehabilitation order, meaning he will be regularly supervised and monitored by a probation officer, Craggs was placed on the sex offenders register for five years. After the case a spokesperson for the Scouts Association said Craggs’ membership had been terminated, and the St John Ambulance said he would never be allowed to join again.