LIVERPOOL MAN CAUGHT WITH HUNDREDS OF ILLEGAL CHILD ABUSE IMAGES WALKS FREE
A dad could only nod in agreement when a judge told him what police found on his phone was "utterly revolting" before letting him walk free from court.Stephen McDonald appeared in Liverpool Crown Court today, March 5, where he was charged with being in possession of 317 prohibited photographs of children and 35 images of extreme pornography including sexual images involving animals.
The 36-year-old had previously appeared in Liverpool Magistrates' Court where he pleaded guilty to the two charges on February 21 last year.
It comes after police found more than 300 illegal images of drawings on his phone which had been cached, meaning police were unable to find how and when he had downloaded them onto his mobile.
Merseyside Police seized the device and the examined the phone before finding the photographs of drawings depicting child sexual abuse and extreme pornography of adult women with dogs and/or horses.
Nardeen Nemat, prosecuting, described the horrific images found on the phone of McDonald, who appeared in the dock in a light blue t-shirt, blue jeans and trainers with dark hair and clean shaven.
She also stated he had previous convictions, most recently relating to possession with intent to supply cannabis in 2012, although none were similar in nature to the charges he faced today.
Ben Berkson, defending McDonald, claimed his client's relapse into using cocaine again was a factor in his desire to view these images.
He said: "There is a trigger point for these offences and that is misusing cocaine which has contributed in some manner to this offending if one looks at his background." He continued: "It is my submission that whilst it will be of some conclusion that the defendant fails to acknowledge his interests in this material it is often a long and difficult road of reflection before one comes to terms with it." He further claimed his client's abstinence from drugs had allowed him to "live a law abiding life".
The court heard how the images could not be categorised due to them being drawings.
Handing down his sentence, judge Ian Harris told McDonald said: "This type of offending is utterly revolting, I see you nod your head in agreement.
I have no idea what you were doing looking at these images.
If they had been real you would have been sent to prison." Despite Mr Harris telling McDonald his offending crossed the custodial threshold, he also noted his progress in combating his cocaine addiction.
Stephen McDonald, 36, of Little Court, Vauxhall, was handed a two-year community order, 100 hours of unpaid work, 36 sessions with the Building Choices programme and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
He has also been handed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order as well as being added to the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
