PAUL DUVALL SENTENCED IN ST ALBANS FOR CHILD SEX IMAGE OFFENSES

In March 2008, Paul Duvall, a 40-year-old man from Wiggenhall Road, Watford, was found to possess nearly 100 child sexual abuse images after explicitly writing a sexual fantasy about a child in an internet chat room.

St Albans Crown Court was informed that police arrested Duvall following an email he sent, which raised suspicions. During a raid on 30 March last year, officers recovered a laptop and six CDs, which were examined and revealed a total of 98 indecent images of children.

The images varied in severity, with one classified at Level 5 (the most serious), seven at Level 4, seven at Level 2, and 83 at Level 1. Duvall pleaded guilty to 14 counts of creating and possessing indecent images of children and appeared before the court for sentencing.

Defence lawyer Gary Grimshaw explained that Duvall, who is burdened with £20,000 in debts, was open to intervention, stating, "Duvall would welcome the opportunity to be helped by probation officers and would be keen to attend courses to deal with his offences."

Judge John Plumstead expressed concern about Duvall’s future conduct. He stated, "The court’s concern is to ensure that the defendant does not become a greater risk to children. My anxiety is the fantasy found on the email concerned sex with a child. He chose to go beyond passively looking at images and entered an exchange of fantasies."

As part of his sentence, Duvall was placed on a three-year Community Sex Offender Work programme, barred from working with children for life, and ordered to register as a sex offender for five years. Additionally, the judge mandated that Duvall must not access pornography on computers or use any software that deletes internet browsing history for the next seven years.