May 2021 Judge jails Reading man for having child sex images and animal porn A former security guard will spend more than a year in prison after being caught with indecent images of babies, a judge said were “some of the worst” she had ever seen. Michael Mitchell, of Havergate Way, Reading, will spend 16 months behind bars after downloading more than 1,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse and animal porn. The videos downloaded by the 41-year-old included one where a child estimated to be up to 18-months-old was in “visible distress and pain” after being violently sexually abused. Another video outlined by Judge Campbell involved a dog performing a sex act on a child who was estimated to be between six and eight years old. A court heard how Mitchell was “pleased” to have been caught by police because he “realised it was wrong” and he “couldn’t stop”. Mitchell started downloading the images in January 2016 and over the course of more than three years accumulated more than 1,000 child and animal porn images. His activities were discovered after an IP address associated to the distribution of the indecent images was linked to his residence. Police arrived at his address on November 7, 2019 with a warrant to search his address. Upon their arrival, Mitchell told police ‘the items you will be interested in will be in my room.’ Officers seized a laptop and Mitchell was arrested. Following an analysis of his laptop, police found 368 ‘category A’ indecent images of children — the most severe and explicit type of images. They also discovered 320 category B images and movies and 333 category C images and movies, with 70 images and videos of extreme porn featuring animals also found. Prosecuting, Adam Williams said Mitchell’s offending stretched over a “significant period” before he was caught. The 41-year-old had lost his job since news of his conviction emerged. The judge said: “This is some of the worst [indecent image content] I have seen” Describing a 17-minute video which showed a girl estimated to be 10-18 months old being sexually abused, Judge Campbell told the court the child was “crying”, and “clearly in visible distress and pain.” Another video outlined by Judge Campbell involved a dog performing a sex act on a child estimated to be between six and eight years old. She said the majority of the content on Mitchell’s laptop involved children estimated to be between four and eight years old. She said: “These are real children and there are a number of different victims.” Addressing Mitchell, Judge Campbell continued: “Your offending arose out of a long history of porn use because of your loneliness and boredom. “These are images which are created for people like you in order to create a market. “The aggravating factors are so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.” Mitchell was sentenced to 16 months in prison after admitting to three counts of making indecent images of a child and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image of intercourse with an animal. The 41-year-old will serve half this sentence before being eligible for release, and was also handed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order. He appeared at Reading Crown Court on Friday, May 21. April 2021 Reading man guilty of making 1,000 indecent images of children A man who made more than more than 1,000 indecent images of children will be sentenced at Crown Court in the coming months. Michael Mitchell, of Havergate Way, Reading, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children at a hearing at Reading Magistrates’ Court this morning (Thursday, April 8). He also confessed to possessing six extreme pornographic images featuring sex with an animal. The court heard how the 41 year old was arrested in November 2019 after police were alerted to his activity via his IP address. When officers arrived at his address, Mitchell told them: “The items you will be interested in will be in my room”, according to prosecutor Benjamin May. After searching his property, officers found: 368 ‘category A’ images of children, the most severe and explicit type of photographs 320 ‘category B’ images of children 333 ‘category C’ images of children Six images which involved a person performing a sex act with a live or dead animal. The images were made between January 2016 and November 2019. Because he pleaded guilty Mitchell is required to notify officers at Reading Police Station he has committed a sexual offence. He will also be forced to inform police if he stays at an address where an under-18 is living in the future. The defendant was not sentenced by District Judge Sam Goozee, who told him he should receive “greater punishment” than what could be handed to him at magistrates’ court. He has been remanded on unconditional bail and will be given a date for sentencing at Reading Crown Court.