PHILIP ELLIS SENTENCED IN LEICESTER FOR CHILD ABUSE IMAGES CASE

In November 2011, a man named Philip Ellis was convicted of possessing child abuse images after someone borrowed his laptop and discovered the material. The court learned that Ellis, 27, of South View, Manton, Rutland, had downloaded indecent images and video clips depicting boys aged 13 and under being sexually abused. He was sentenced to eight months in prison at Leicester Crown Court on Monday, with the sentence to run consecutively to his existing two-and-a-half-year sentence for other offenses, including blackmail.

Prosecutor Alan Murphy explained that in August 2009, Ellis’s sister’s boyfriend used his laptop to listen to music and found indecent material stored on it. The police were contacted, and upon seizure of the laptop and a home computer, officers discovered multiple indecent images and movies involving young children engaged in sexual acts. These materials included 21 images and 30 video clips, one of which was a compilation of 50 films. All material fell across the five categories on the scale of seriousness.

Mr. Murphy noted that Ellis had accessed child pornography via a file-sharing site and had used search terms to find such material. He had also visited children’s chat sites, although there was no evidence of grooming or crimes against children in that context.

In addition, Mr. Murphy stated that Ellis was previously imprisoned for two-and-a-half years in April for offenses, including blackmail, related to threats made during sexual encounters in a Cambridge park. He had threatened to reveal one victim as a paedophile.

Defense lawyer David Ewings told the court that Ellis had struggled with his sexuality from a young age, which caused him distress. He explained that Ellis initially viewed adult pornography, which sometimes included pop-ups advertising child pornography, though he did not purchase such images. Ewings stated, “Although there were 50 clips in one movie, it involved one click to have all that material.”

Ewings also highlighted Ellis’s mental health struggles, including depression after the death of his brother, which led him to use cannabis, lose his job, and his home. Regarding his presence in chat rooms, Ewings said, “that was in order to talk to teenagers who may have also been having difficulty with their sexuality, as he was.”

Judge Sylvia De Bertodano sentenced Ellis, stating, “These images involved pre-pubescent and young teenage children engaged in sexual acts and are abused by adults. People like you create a market for such images.”

Ellis was also placed under an indefinite sexual offences prevention order, with restrictions on computer use, and was banned from working with children. He will also have to register as a sex offender for ten years.