July 2001 Man avoids jail for child porn A Burnt Oak man wept as he escaped a prison sentence after admitting downloading and distributing pornographic images of children on his computer. Stephen Jay, 27, of Thirleby Road, was sentenced to a three-year supervision and rehabilitation order at Southwark Crown Court. The court heard how the unemployed homosexual downloaded 73 pictures of young boys after receiving emails from contacts made on “gay sites” on the web. He passed on 13 of the photos in January and was caught out by Scotland Yard’s obscene publications and internet unit. Defending, Martin Watts said: “If my client receives a custodial sentence, he will be sectioned in prison and mixed with offenders who are older than him and have fallen into a pattern of reoffending.” Sentencing Jay, Judge Geoffrey Rivilin, said: “Most of the photographs were not of the worst kind by any means, nevertheless, any activity of this nature automatically involves the corruption or possible corruption of young children. “In effect this was an isolated offence committed over a short time four days. It is also apparent that your interest in material of this nature stems from your own childhood, when you yourself were quite seriously abused.” The judge ordered Jay to register as a sex offender for five years and ordered the forfeit of his computer and hard disk. He must undergo therapy, was barred from working with children, must not have unsupervised contact with youngsters under the age of 16 and must not visit a child’s home without the approval of supervising officers.