May 2013 Ascot paedophile banged up for having thousands of indecent images A LONELY man who had nearly 20,000 images of child pornography on his computer will spend two years and four months behind bars. Michael Doel, of Bracken Bank, Ascot, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday (April 30) after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent pictures, one count of possession to distribute the images and four counts of intentionally encouraging the commission of an either way offence. The 58-year-old was arrested in October 2012 by officers from Thames Valley Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT). In interview, Doel admitted to having the images and sharing media with other web users using a peer-to-peer file sharing site. He said he began looking at the images because he was lonely, as a result of his partner’s alcoholism. His computer was forensically analysed by the High Tech Crime Unit (HCTU) and were found to contain more than 3,000 indecent images. A USB stick containing more than 15,000 indecent images was also found in the bushes at Ascot Racecourse by a pedestrian and, upon investigation, was found to belong to the offender. About 85% of the images featured children under the age of 13 and just under a third of these were found to feature children under the age of five. A number of the images were at level five – the most serious kind. Investigating officer Detective Constable Sandra Tearney, from POLIT, said: “Due to the diligent work jointly between the POLIT and the HTCU, we were able to bring this man to court to face justice for these sickening crimes, which he has committed over a number of years.” She added: “We are very satisfied with the court result.” Doel will serve up to two years and fours months in jail, has been ordered to sign onto the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years and was issued with a Sexual Offenders Prevention Order.