November 2004 Serial flasher found with child porn and gun planned to meet girls A middle-aged man from Feltham with a long record for flashing’ and one previous conviction for indecent assault, was found to have dozens of child-porn images on his lap-top computer. On the police scale of 1-5 with five being the most serious, Peter Baker, 56, had one image of scale five and 19 of scale four, Isleworth Crown Court heard today (Friday). Baker of Fern Grove, admitted 20 specimen charges of having indecent images of children and asked for a further 39 to be considered. He also admitted having a shotgun without a licence and breaking the terms of the sex offenders’ register by failing to notify police when he moved in August. He was jailed for a total of three years and four months, ordered to remain on the sex offenders’ register for life, had his computer confiscated and the gun subject to a destruction order. Judge Sam Katkhuda told him: “I have seen some of these images depicting children in explicit sexual activity, involving the exploitation of children in an abusive and degrading way. I have seen the distressed on the face of one young girl. “It must be absolutely clear to those who take part in such activities, that substantial prison sentences will be passed”. Prosecutor Simon Shannon told the court that police went to his address in August last year on another matter and “noticed pictures of young girls next to his computer. They returned the following day and carried out a search during which they seized his hard drive, a number of videos and DVDs and an ancient shotgun capable of firing .22 cartridges,” said counsel. Baker told police he found the gun in an outside cupboard and brought it in to see if it was suitable for Western re-enactments in which he was involved. Under interview for gross indecency Baker admitted to actively trying to meet young girls on the internet. In August police had been called to reports of Baker committing an indecent act on his doorstep in front of a young girl. This lead to him being arrested and charged with gross indecency. The pornography found on his computer was in a file-sharing programme called Kazar, said Mr Shannon. The worst image concerned sadism rather than bestiality, he added. Defence counsel, Ajanta Kaza said Baker did not distribute the images or have anything to do with creating them. He simply down-loaded them from this programme. “It was not a deliberate act. He just viewed these images,” she said. The firearm was not loaded and he had no ammunition for it, she said. He found it in a cupboard and “didn’t realise it required a certificate”. His breach of the sex offenders’ register was just a misunderstanding of what he told the police when he moved out of his accommodation to sleep in his van. Investigating officer DC Paul Burn, of Hounslow CID, said: “I am delighted with the sentence the Judge has handed out today. “Peter Baker is obviously a danger to young girls and the sentence is a just reflection of the nature this man’s crimes. “The sentence also shows that people who commit these crimes will be investigated and dealt with by police and the judicial system, and it is a reward for the hard work put in by officers and the CPS.”