THOMAS STEWART, BANGOR CIVIL SERVANT, SPARED JAIL AFTER CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES REVELATION

In September 2017, a civil servant from Bangor named Thomas Stephen Stewart, aged 60, was spared a prison sentence after admitting to downloading more than 200,000 indecent images and videos of children. Stewart told police he had a sexual interest in children "in an online capacity," a court heard.

Stewart was imposed a two-year probation order and placed on the sex offenders' register for five years. A judge decided that intensive rehabilitation programs would be the most effective means of protecting the public going forward.

The criminal activity came to light following a joint operation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the National Crime Agency, conducted at Stewart’s Belfast home on June 2, 2015. The authorities acted on information suggesting that indecent images of children were being accessed from his address.

During the police search, items were seized, and Stewart revealed he had another electronic device not found at the scene, which also contained indecent images of children. The Crown prosecutor noted that Stewart, who was living at Dufferin Avenue in Bangor, had made "full and frank" admissions during interviews and admitted to having "a sexual interest in children in an online capacity for some years."

Following an examination of multiple electronic devices, authorities discovered a total of 218,375 images stored across a computer and a hard drive.

Stewart faced multiple charges, including 26 counts of making indecent images of children, three charges of possessing an extreme pornographic image, and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child. He admitted to all charges. His offending spanned from September 2008 to March 2015.

During the court hearing, prosecutor told Belfast Crown Court that many images were stored "in a chaotic manner," and that Stewart did not share these images with others, indicating his offending was "solitary."

When Judge Patricia Smyth asked Stewart whether he agreed to be placed on probation for two years, he responded tearfully, "I do indeed. Thank you very much."