RUSSELL KAY FROM CHIPPENHAM RECEIVES SUSPENDED SENTENCE OVER ILLEGAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CASE

In September 2017, a man from Chippenham named Russell Kay was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court for downloading more than 80,000 images of children being sexually abused. Kay claimed that his actions were driven by a desire to prevent himself from abusing children. Over a period of 20 years, the 48-year-old stored these disturbing images and videos, primarily on disks hidden in the loft of his family home.

During the trial, the judge heard Kay describe his use of the material as akin to a heroin user taking methadone, stating, "He is of the view, having been seriously abused himself as a young boy by a male friend of his parents, his feeling was he was at some risk at some point of committing an offence against a child." Peter Binder, Kay’s defence lawyer, explained, "Because his understanding was: having been a victim himself, as in his view victims in his words are hard wired to become abusers. And so he feels he was looking at this material in the way a heroin user takes methadone. It was really the lesser of two evils as it reduced the risk of him committing a contact offence."

Binder further stated that Kay believed he was contributing to preventing worse situations, emphasizing, "He seems to be of the view that what he was doing was in a sense preventing the situation from getting worse. It is hard to fathom. In many ways he has been the victim and this is not someone with paedophilic tendencies by choice, it is someone who suffered vile abuse as a child and that has affected his behaviour over the years.'" Despite these justifications, Kay had kept this illicit material hidden and led what he described as a largely respectable life, apart from his secret collection.

Following his arrest in April of the previous year, Kay sought assistance and had installed blocking software on his computer. His family, including his wife and daughters, who were aware of his troubled past, continued to support him despite his job loss as a result of the offences.

Prosecutor Grace Flynn outlined how police obtained information indicating Kay’s IP address had been used on a file-sharing website distributing such material. Authorities seized a laptop, three external hard drives, and a box of CDs filled with the images from Kay’s loft. The evidence revealed a disturbing scale: 271 images in the most severe category, including 64 movies; 431 images in a middle category with 45 films; and 81,650 images in the lowest category, including 155 movies.

When questioned, Kay admitted he had been collecting these images since 2000, citing a traumatic childhood as the reason behind his actions. He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, spanning from July 1995 to April 30 of the previous year.

Judge Tim Mousley QC delivered the ruling, stating, "Every time you looked at those images for your perverted gratification you were witnessing a young child or children being violently abused." Recognizing that Kay could be managed safely within the community, the judge decided to suspend a 12-month prison sentence for two years, considering him a low risk of reoffending. Kay was also ordered to undergo supervision for two years, comply with a sexual harm prevention order, and register as a sex offender for the next 10 years.