April 2023 Plymouth man had sickening pictures of a baby being anally raped A Plymouth man has been told by a judge who jailed him the images he viewed were “horrific to right minded members of the community” and that they “plumb the very depths of depravity” after pictures of a baby being anally raped were described in court.  Earlier this week Paul Leefson of Greenbank Avenue, Plymouth appeared at Plymouth Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to a total of nine charges. The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children – 59 still images and 39 movies – of category A (the most serious) between August 2019 and June 2021. He also pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children – 47 still images and 15 movies – of category B between August 2019 and June 2021 and making 135 still and three movies of category C. Leefson also pleaded guilty to distributing indecent images of children between June 8 2021 and June 12 2021 – namely five images of category A, four images of category B and four images of category C. He pleaded guilty to possessing an extreme pornographic images “which was grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character and portrayed in an explicit wand realist way a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal, namely a dog”. Leefson, a former crane operator, pleaded guilty to publishing an obscene article between June 8 2021 and June 12 2021 – namely “chat relating to sexual activity with children”. Finally, Leefson pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child under 16. The particulars were that on June 11 2021 “for the purpose of sexual gratification, intentionally attempted to communicate with a person under 16, namely 14 years of age” with the communication “being sexual, namely chat with [a named person] by way of Kik Messenger”. Prosecutor Katie Churcher told the court police received information by way of the National Crime Agency (NCA) that there had been sharing of indecent images of children and online chat which involved child abuse. Following further investigation it led them to Leefson and the execution of a search warrant in June 20211. A mobile phone was seized which corresponded with an email linked to the inquiry and Leefson was interviewed while the device awaiting interrogation. He answered “no comment” throughout and was released under investigation. The phone was revealed to contained the mix of Category A, B and C movies and images which had been collected between August 2019 and June 2021 , including other extreme images, and chat indicated from the NCA with images sent on those chats. The findings indicated chat logs where Leefson had sent Category A, B and C images in the course of conversations on KIK Messenger. There was also chat relating to someone who seemed to be or Leefson thought was a 14-year-old girl, sending explicit messages. Judge Linford interrupted at this stage to ask whether this related to the chat which saw Leefson asked “have you been f***ed by older men before? Are you 14?” to which Ms Churcher confirmed. After taking several minutes to deliberate in his chambers, Judge Robert Linford returned to round on Leefson during the sentencing process, stating that “by far and away the most serious aspect of this case” was the sharing of indecent photographs of children by the 35-year-old and others. Judge Linford said the descriptions of the images set out in the evidence bundle had been “my misfortune to have to read, but the police officer’s misfortune to have to view and then describe”. He said: “This sort of material is horrific to right minded members of the community. One image in particular is singled out my comment and it is this – it is the anal rape of a one-year-old child.” After pausing for several second, Judge Linford added: “These images don’t just exist in the ether. These aren’t CGI. These are real children – people’s daughters, granddaughters, nephews, nieces – who are really being sexually abused for the sexual satisfaction of people such as yourself.” He said that if there were not people “prepared to view this stuff” then there would not be people filming and photographing it. Judge Linford said the images described by police included children as young as one years old, “two, three, four, five, eight – these images plumb the very depths of depravity. What on earth those children were going through when this was happening to them can only be imagined.” He confirmed that Leefson had no previous convictions, had an extremely good work record and had led a hard working life but it was one which was isolated, according to the pre-sentence report. However, he said the sharing of Category A indecent images of children and the “wholly inappropriate sexualised chat” could only result in a custodial sentence. Judge Linford passed a series of terms of imprisonment for the nine counts, all to run concurrently, totalling 28 months. He said Leefson would serve half before being released on licence. He added that he would be made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and remain on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years. April 2023 Plymouth man admits making indecent images of children A Plymouth man is set to be sentenced today after he pleaded guilty to a slew of offences, including making and distributing indecent images of children and publishing an obscene article which a court heard was chat relating to sexual activity with children. Paul Leefson of Greenbank Avenue, Plymouth appeared at Plymouth Crown Court, where he answered a total of nine charges read by the clerk of the court. The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children – 59 still images and 39 movies – of category A (the most serious)between August 2019 and June 2021. He also pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children – 47 still images and 15 movies – of category B between August 2019 and June 2021 and making 135 still and three movies of category C. Leefson pleaded guilty to distributing indecent images of children between June 8 2021 and June 12 2021 – namely five images of category A, four images of category B and four images of category C. He pleaded guilty to possessing an extreme pornographic images “which was grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene character and portrayed in an explicit wand realist way a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with an animal, namely a dog”. Leefson pleaded guilty to publishing an obscene article between June 8 2021 and June 12 2021 – namely “chat relating to sexual activity with children”. Finally, Leefson pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child under 16. The particulars were that on June 11 2021 “for the purpose of sexual gratification, intentionally attempted to communicate with a person under 16, namely 14 years of age” with the communication “being sexual, namely chat with [a named person] by way of Kik Messenger”. Leefson was granted bail by Judge Peter Johnson for a pre-sentence report to be completed. He will be sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court on Wednesday April 19.