January 2014 Kemsing man had more than 1,000 child sex images and films but escapes jail A Kemsing man caught with more than 1,000 child sex images on his computer along with 23 film clips has been spared jail. Instead Matthew Phyall, 21, from Northdown Road, Kemsing, was given a 12 month jail sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered by a judge at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. Judge Martin Joy also ordered that Phyall’s name must be included on the sex offenders’ register and banned him from working with children. And he must pay prosecution costs of £500. The judge had been told when police raided Phyall’s home after being alerted his email address was being used to download child porn they looked into his computer. They found 855 stills of children which were at the lower levels of seriousness. However, there were also 203 at the higher levels. And the film clips were found, again with some at the higher levels. As he sentenced Phyall, who had pleaded guilty to possessing, making and distributing indecent images of children, Judge Joy told him there was no alternative to a jail sentence, but added that the sentence could be suspended. He continued : “Real children are harmed by such offences. It is easy for people to be fooled into thinking they aren’t. That is something you don’t seem to understand.” He said that Phyall “not been frank with the probation service” and there was no recommendation for treatment such as a sex offender programme. He said he hoped the sentence would remind Phyall of the gravity of the offence. The court had been told that the offences began after Phyall was sent child porn images by a friend. He was said to have felt ill when he saw them and had denied having any sexual interest in children or getting any sexual gratification from the images. His counsel, Tom Dunn said the amount of material involved had been small.