NICHOLAS STEBBING FROM READING JAILED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES INVOLVING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In August 2014, a man from Reading, Nicholas Stebbing, was sentenced to a total of 20 months in prison after being found guilty of possessing and downloading a significant number of indecent images of children. The court heard that Stebbing, aged 42 and residing on Zinzan Street in West Reading, had engaged in the illegal activity by downloading over 40,000 images depicting children, including infants, being subjected to abuse.

During a police investigation, officers visited Stebbing’s residence and discovered the illicit material stored on his electronic devices. Although some of the images had been deleted, they were recovered from a laptop and a computer hard drive. The collection included both still photographs and video clips, with a disturbing subset classified under the most severe ‘level 5’ category, comprising 158 images. Prosecutor Jane Davies explained that the images were highly graphic and involved very young children, including babies, being exploited.

In addition to the images, police found messages that indicated the possibility of file-sharing activities. However, no charges were brought against Stebbing for distribution or sharing of the images. It was also revealed that Stebbing had a prior criminal record related to similar offences. In 2002, he was convicted of a comparable charge and sentenced to six months in prison. Furthermore, in 2007, he received a community order after attempting to take photographs of boys in a changing room, an act of attempted voyeurism.

Stebbing’s defense lawyer, Kerry Waitt, stated that his client had recently completed a course run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, aimed at addressing sex offenders’ behavior. Mr. Waitt emphasized that Stebbing had expressed feelings of revulsion and shame upon viewing the images and had taken steps to delete them. The lawyer also mentioned that Stebbing had been employed full-time and, following the recent charges, chose to disclose his situation to his employer. After discussions, Stebbing decided to resign from his job.

Judge John Reddihough addressed the court and the defendant directly, highlighting the gravity of the offences. He remarked, “You are intelligent enough to realize the effect of the offences such as this. You downloaded and looked at indecent images of children.” The judge emphasized that these images depicted real children who had been exploited and abused for the purpose of creating such material. He pointed out that the existence of such images fuels a criminal industry that perpetuates the abuse of children worldwide, with devastating and lasting impacts on victims.

Judge Reddihough further noted that Stebbing had resumed his offending behavior after completing a previous sex offenders’ program. As a result, he sentenced him to 20 months in prison for each offence, to run concurrently. Additionally, the court imposed a sexual offences prevention order, restricting Stebbing’s use of computers to only business-related activities. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for a period of ten years, reflecting the seriousness of his crimes and the ongoing risk he poses to the community.