STEPHEN IVES FROM HUNCOAT ESCAPES JAIL AFTER CHILD PORNOGRAPHY DISCOVERY IN LANCASHIRE

In May 2016, a disturbing case involving a man from Huncoat, Lancashire, came to light when authorities uncovered a significant collection of indecent images of children in his possession. Stephen Ives, aged 43 and residing on Higher Gate Road in Huncoat, was found to have downloaded and stored thousands of such images, some depicting victims as young as four years old.

Police executed a search warrant at Ives' residence in Huncoat, where they seized a variety of electronic devices, including a computer, 15 hard drives, five CD drives, 570 CDs, a Kindle e-reader, a Toshiba laptop, and two mobile phones. The investigation revealed that Ives had been actively searching for content related to pre-teen children, with his search history indicating a specific interest in young victims.

Upon examination of the seized devices, authorities discovered a vast collection of images. Ives admitted to three counts of making indecent photographs of children, with offenses spanning from December 27, 2002, to May 21, 2015. Among the images found, 19 were classified as the most serious category, depicting sexual acts involving children. An additional 31 images fell into the second most serious category, while a staggering 4,429 images showed children in sexual poses. One particularly disturbing image was of a girl aged just four years old.

Prosecutor Roger Baldwin detailed the case, stating that police visited Ives' home in May of the previous year and subsequently seized the electronic devices for analysis. Ives was interviewed by police on November 27 but chose to remain silent during questioning. The investigation could not determine exactly how long Ives had been involved in such offending behavior.

During the court proceedings, Judge Beverly Lunt temporarily adjourned the case to review the recommendations of a pre-sentence report. The report suggested that Ives was not attracted to children and indicated that there was no scope for an appropriate treatment order. However, the judge expressed skepticism about this assertion, stating, “He was clearly looking for children of a certain age. To say that he is not attracted to children is just not true.”

Ultimately, Ives was sentenced to six months in prison, but the sentence was suspended for two years. He was also ordered to attend a specialized internet sex offenders program, complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement, and adhere to a five-year sexual harm prevention order. Additionally, Ives was mandated to register as a sex offender for the next ten years, underscoring the seriousness of his offenses and the ongoing risk he poses.