SOUTH MOLTON CHILD ABUSE IMAGE SCANDAL: STEPHEN AND WILLIAM RAWLINSON SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

In September 2017, authorities conducted a raid on a residence located on South Street in South Molton, uncovering disturbing evidence involving both a father and his son. The investigation revealed that Stephen Rawlinson, aged 56, had been involved in the creation of child abuse images using photo manipulation software. Police found that he had stored a total of 139 such images on his Dell computer, which he had altered to depict children in indecent scenarios. Rawlinson, who had a prior conviction for downloading child images, admitted to manipulating these images but claimed ignorance about any sharing activities related to them.

His son, William Rawlinson, aged 27, also had a troubling interest in child abuse material. During the police search, officers discovered that William had downloaded over 2,000 images from the internet. He had also taken some of his father’s manipulated images and stored them on a USB memory stick. Furthermore, William had engaged in online communication with a contact via the Kik messenger app, sending 22 images shortly before the police arrived at their home.

Both men resided together at the same address on South Street, South Molton. They each admitted to three counts of making indecent images of children. William additionally admitted to distributing these images. The police investigation revealed that Stephen Rawlinson had created a total of 11 Category A, 16 Category B, and 112 Category C images between 2009 and 2017. William, on the other hand, had produced one Category A, 233 Category B, and 2,005 Category C images or videos during June to September 2017, and had distributed 22 images of Category C.

During the court proceedings, Judge Peter Johnson sentenced Stephen Rawlinson to eight months in prison. William Rawlinson was ordered to participate in a sex offenders’ treatment program and was placed under a three-year community order. Both men were registered on the sex offenders’ register and were subject to Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, which impose restrictions on their future internet use. The judge emphasized the seriousness of the offenses, particularly highlighting Rawlinson’s previous conviction from 2010, which he considered a factor in the sentencing. He also acknowledged the difficult circumstances of William’s early life, noting the influence of his father’s criminal behavior.

Prosecutor Miss Kelly Scrivener explained that police initially responded to the residence on September 2, 2017, and during their investigation, Rawlinson admitted to manipulating images of children to make them sexual. When questioned about the Kik social media platform, he claimed to know nothing about it. William was subsequently interviewed and found to have child images stored on a Dropbox account on his phone, which he admitted to sending via Kik. He also acknowledged downloading images from the internet and storing some of his father’s images on a USB stick. The evidence showed that Stephen Rawlinson had created a significant number of images across various categories, with the most being Category C, while William’s collection was even larger, with over 2,000 images or videos, some of which he had shared online.