CARLISLE PENSIONER WITH CHILD ABUSE IMAGES AVOIDS JAIL AFTER ADMITTING OFFENCES
A pensioner from Carlisle who has previously served time in prison for child sex offenses was discovered viewing online images of children being abused.The incident came to light after Denman attended a police station voluntarily to undergo a lie detector test, during which he made comments raising concerns.
This led to an investigation that uncovered he had been viewing indecent child images and illegal extreme pornography on his devices, including a laptop, two tablets, and a USB flash drive.
Denman, age 73, had earlier pleaded guilty to downloading two indecent child images classified as Category A—considered the most serious—and 59 images classified as Category C.
He also possessed five extreme pornographic images.
During police interviews, Denman admitted he used his laptop to view extreme pornography and believed the images he had were not illegal.
His previous record includes a 15-month jail term for three indecent assaults on a female child in the early 2000s.
The court noted his cooperation and honesty, with Judge Michael Fanning sentencing him to an 18-month community order that includes a 26-session rehabilitative program and 15 activity days.
A five-year sexual harm prevention order was imposed, though it did not include a polygraph requirement, as no evidence supported this.
Denman is already registered as a sex offender and also admitted to failing to disclose his YouTube username, breaching registration terms.
