TIMOTHY NELMS FROM LEATHERHEAD JAILED OVER CHILD ABUSE IMAGES IN GUILDFORD

In a significant case that has once again brought attention to the ongoing issue of child exploitation, Timothy Nelms, a resident of Copperfield Court in Leatherhead, was sentenced to six months in prison after being found in possession of indecent images of children. The conviction followed a police investigation that uncovered more than 400 explicit images depicting minors aged between 6 and 14 years old, stored on computers located within his home in January of the previous year.

Nelms, aged 53, had a prior conviction for similar offences dating back to 2007, when he was convicted at Lewes Crown Court. Following that conviction, he was required to complete a specialized course aimed at addressing his offending behavior. Despite this intervention, Judge Neil Stewart expressed clear disappointment, stating that Nelms had not learned from his previous punishment.

Judge Stewart emphasized the seriousness of the case, asserting that the circumstances left no room for leniency. He remarked, “The circumstances preclude consideration of anything other than an immediate custodial sentence. You were faced with such a sentence on the last occasion and were fortunate to avoid it. You had the opportunity of the programme. Having had that opportunity, you chose to offend again.”

In addition to the custodial sentence, Nelms was handed a seven-year sexual prevention order. This order mandates that he must notify police within 48 hours of purchasing any device capable of internet access and allows authorities to install monitoring software to oversee his online activity.

During a previous hearing, Nelms pleaded guilty to 15 counts of making indecent images of children by downloading such material from the internet between September 2010 and January of the following year. Judge Stewart highlighted the gravity of these offences, stating, “Every image recorded is an image of sexual abuse of children. Every time someone chooses to download such material, they encourage the taking of these images and perpetuate the market for them.”

Concerns about Nelms’s attitude towards his offending were raised in a pre-sentence report, which described his outlook as “fatalistic.” The report also noted that the authorities and the programme manager involved in his rehabilitation had serious reservations about sending him on another course, indicating doubts about his willingness to change.

Defense lawyer Nicholas Hamblin argued that the charges were somewhat exaggerated, noting that six of the charges involved images of the same child and suggesting that Nelms’s actions were limited to personal use rather than distribution or circulation. Hamblin emphasized, “This isn’t a man downloading items to circulate to others or distribute to people. It’s clearly for his own use. That doesn’t take away from the awfulness that these images were taken by someone at some stage.”

As part of the sentence, Judge Stewart ordered that Nelms’s computers be destroyed to prevent further access to such material, underscoring the court’s stance on the severity of the offences and the importance of preventing future harm.