STEPHEN WOOD FROM CAVERSHAM JAILED FOR CHILD ABUSE IMAGES IN READING

In a disturbing case that has shocked the local community, Stephen Wood, a 52-year-old resident of Washington Road in Caversham, has been sentenced to prison for possessing a vast collection of child abuse images. The sentencing took place at Reading Crown Court on a recent Friday, following Wood’s admission to possessing 16 counts of indecent image possession during a hearing held the previous month.

According to court reports, a police officer involved in the investigation described Wood’s collection as among the most severe he had encountered in his career. The case came to light after police executed a search warrant at Wood’s former residence in Reading, where he had previously lived with his wife and children. The operation was carried out on September 12 of the previous year, leading to the discovery of a significant hoard of illicit material.

During the search, officers cautioned Wood and he voluntarily showed them two disks containing the illegal content. In a candid admission, Wood expressed relief that the police had arrived, stating that he could not stop his addiction to child pornography on his own. Prosecutor Jane Davies detailed the extent of the material found, noting that the police had to halt their viewing after examining 72 percent of the photographs and 11.6 percent of the videos due to the overwhelming volume.

Further investigation revealed that the disks contained a staggering total of 84,039 photographs and 630 videos. Of these, a significant portion—16,434 images and 355 videos—were classified as the most severe categories, levels four and five, which depict the most heinous forms of child exploitation.

Wood explained that he stored these images on external drives, deleting the original downloads from his computer to conceal his activities. He maintained that he was not involved in distributing the images and that they were solely for his personal use. During police interviews, he was open about his long-standing habit of downloading such material, admitting to a years-long pattern of behavior.

Defense lawyer Jerome Silva emphasized that Wood had cooperated fully with law enforcement and had taken steps to address his behavior since his arrest. He revealed that Wood was attending a course organized by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity dedicated to child protection.

Judge Zoe Smith sentenced Wood to a year in prison, highlighting the disturbing nature of the images. She stated that an officer had viewed 100 of the images and found many involved sexual acts with young children, with approximately one-fifth of the material being of the most severe kind. Despite the gravity of the offenses, the judge acknowledged Wood’s otherwise good character, his cooperation, and his early guilty plea.

In addition to the custodial sentence, Wood was subject to an indefinite sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) and ordered to pay costs amounting to £670. The court’s decision underscores the seriousness with which such offenses are treated and aims to serve as a deterrent to others involved in similar criminal activities.