SICK DERBYSHIRE PAEDOPHILE CAUGHT WITH NEARLY 900,000 INDECENT IMAGES OF CHILDREN
A man from Derbyshire was found to possess nearly 900,000 indecent images and videos of children, many depicting young victims in distress being sexually abused.Thomas Kniveton, aged 43 and a former software engineer, amassed a total of 886,691 images and videos over a period of almost five years, from August 2018 to June 2023, the Derby Crown Court was told.
It was also revealed that less than half of these files had been categorized by police, leaving over 500,000 images and videos unassessed.
Initially denying the possession of indecent images, Kniveton changed his plea and admitted the charges on the same day his trial was scheduled to start.
The court heard that numerous thumbnails from the Kodi media app were discovered on his devices, which he used to save his 'favourites.' Among these were videos showing children aged seven or eight in obvious distress, being subjected to sexual assault.
Judge Graham Huston stated that Kniveton had taken pleasure in viewing the abuse, adding that the volume of material indicated that the images depicted the rape of thousands of children.
The judge emphasized that by accessing this material, Kniveton condoned the acts and shared culpability with those directly perpetrating them.
He also pointed out that if individuals like Kniveton did not seek out such content, demand for it would decrease, potentially saving children from further abuse.
Although Kniveton, who had no prior convictions, claimed to probation officers that he did not derive sexual gratification from the images, his lawyer explained that he was under stress at the time due to a high-paying job and a cocaine addiction costing about £300 weekly.
The lawyer added that he had largely quit using the drug and had stopped drinking altogether.
It was also noted that Kniveton had been using sedatives, specifically Zopiclone, for years and had been diagnosed with pernicious anemia.
Following sentencing guidelines, Recorder Huston suspended a 24-month prison sentence for two years, believing that supervised probation would aid in Kniveton’s rehabilitation more effectively than immediate incarceration.
Kniveton, of Valley Road, Killamarsh, was also ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities and was issued a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
