TERENCE CULL, EX-SOLDIER IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ESCAPES JAIL OVER CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES

In September 2011, former soldier Terence Cull, aged 46, avoided imprisonment after being convicted of possessing and creating images related to child sexual abuse. Cull, who was discharged from the Army due to a back injury, had become addicted to viewing child abuse images following his departure in 2006. He pleaded guilty to 11 charges of making indecent photographs of children and one charge related to stealing a child's underwear, which he admitted. He had been in custody since his arrest nearly four months prior.

Judge William Hart sentenced Cull to a three-year community order, which includes supervision and mandatory attendance at a sex offender treatment program. As part of his sentencing, Cull is required to reside at the Ryecroft Hostel in Tredworth, Gloucester, and is prohibited from visiting his former addresses at Princess Elizabeth Way and Ceylon House in Cheltenham.

During the hearing, the judge remarked, "You were once a man in high regard, a serving soldier who was discharged with an exemplary report. Everyone thought well of you. You cannot get lower in society, can you, than to be involved in sexual offences involving images of children? It makes you a pariah. You have got to earn back the respect of those who once respected you."

Earlier, Cull, then living on Princess Elizabeth Way, admitted to 11 charges between June 1, 2006, and May 12, 2011. Ten of these involved individual images categorized from level one to level four on a scale of five, and the 11th count involved 931 images stored on his computer.

He denied breaking into a property at Ceylon House, Cheltenham, between January 2006 and May 2011, and stealing a child's underwear, although he admitted to the theft.

Prosecutor Lisa Hennessy explained that police received information on March 14 indicating Cull was using his email to post sexually explicit comments related to minors online. Police conducted a raid on May 12, seizing a holdall with numerous items, including a substantial collection of underwear, adult magazines containing indecent images of children, and photographs of local women and children taken from his flat's window.

Judge Hart described Cull’s offenses as "peculiar and disturbing," adding that, considering Cull's prior military service, which was commendable, it was in society’s best interest for him to undergo treatment for his sexual deviance rather than face a prison sentence.