ROBERT SMITH'S CHILD PORN SCANDAL SHOCKS SELBY AND YORK
In March 2009, a disturbing case emerged from Selby involving Robert Smith, a man whose actions have caused profound personal and social repercussions.Smith's wife, overwhelmed by the revelation of his extensive online activities, decided to leave him and sever all ties, leaving him isolated from his family.
The police investigation uncovered a staggering collection of illicit material stored on two of his home computers, revealing a disturbing pattern of child exploitation.
York Crown Court heard that Smith, aged 37 and residing on Old York Road in Barlby, Selby, had amassed approximately 180,000 images of a sexual or indecent nature involving children.
The majority of these images depicted adults, but a significant subset—1,510 pictures—featured children, raising serious concerns about the nature of his online activity.
The discovery was made after the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) squad alerted North Yorkshire Police to suspicious internet activity linked to Smith.
Following this tip-off, detectives executed a raid on his residence, uncovering the extensive digital library.
During the court proceedings, David Garnett, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, detailed the scope of Smith’s offenses.
Smith pleaded guilty to 17 charges of downloading child pornography from the internet and one charge of possessing such material, all committed over a span of several years.
The court was told that these actions had severe personal consequences, especially for his wife, who had chosen to distance herself from him entirely.
Judge Stephen Ashurst, the Recorder of York, addressed Smith directly, emphasizing the impact of his actions: "It has had serious consequences as far as your wife is concerned.
She wants nothing more to do with you.
She has disappeared with your teenage children.
You are publicly disgraced because you have been found with this material." In response to his crimes, the judge ordered that Smith be supervised by the probation service for the next three years.
A key condition of this supervision was his participation in a sex offender treatment program, aimed at addressing his behavior and preventing future offenses.
Additionally, Smith was placed on the sex offenders’ register for a period of five years and was ordered to pay £500 in prosecution costs.
Judge Ashurst also highlighted the gravity of the images involved, stating, "Behind these images that you downloaded over the internet over a long period of time are images of real deeds of children being subjected to abuse." The court was informed that all but two of the images fell into the lowest category on a five-level scale used to assess child pornography, with the remaining two images classified at levels three and four, indicating varying degrees of severity.
Katherine Robinson, representing Smith, noted that he had voluntarily sought counseling through his local doctor, expressing concern about his mental state and his compulsive search for and download of such images.
She suggested that there might be hope for rehabilitation in the future.
The court also heard that Smith was unaware of his wife and children’s whereabouts at the time of sentencing.
Despite being employed, he was struggling financially and burdened with debts, which added to his personal difficulties during this challenging period.
