Locations
Norburn, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE3
Description
A convicted paedophile who was found with more than 8,000 indecent photos and videos of children on his phone, including videos of babies being raped, has been jailed.
Peter Barber, 71, from Norburn in Bretton, Peterborough, was handed a 13-year sentence at Peterborough Crown Court on Tuesday (September 17).
Barber had already been convicted of indecent exposure, as well as making, distributing and possessing indecent images of children. Police officers attended his home after receiving information that an indecent image of a child had been uploaded to the internet.
They found a phone with what was described by Judge Grey while sentencing on Tuesday as an “extensive library of indecent images of children”. This included over 3,700 ‘category A’ images and videos, the worst category; nearly 1,900 files in category B and just under 2,700 in category C.
The footage had been categorised under names including “10yo and fat man” and “rape”. Barber also admitted to buying and accessing indecent images online on another phone, which he had thrown away.
Judge Grey described the most serious individual offence as arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under 13. He continued: “You communicated with a woman online who told you she had a 12-year-old daughter.
"You asked the woman to take indecent images and videos of her daughter. She sent you the material you had asked for.”
Barber also informed police that he had been having sexual conversations with three 12-year-old children via Telegram, and receiving indecent images and videos from all of them. He sent indecent images of children and of himself back to the 12-year-olds.
The paedophile also suggested to one of them that he might meet her in person, in what the judge described as “ghastly examples of an adult setting out to corrupt young children online for his own sexual gratification”.
Judge Grey summed up Barber’s character: “You make claims of a profound Christian faith, which normally works to prevent you from offending. But you say that, when a switch goes in your mind for some reason, lust takes over and you are, in effect, unable to control yourself.
“That is simplistic, self-serving nonsense. It might suffice as an excuse for a short-lived or isolated lapse, but what the court is dealing with here is many months during which your overwhelming focus was to obtain sexual gratification by watching young children being raped and otherwise abused in the most degrading and despicable ways.
“Your relationship with Jesus is, in my judgement, nothing but a show for others when you try to persuade them you will not offend again. You are, in my judgement, an irredeemable paedophilic sexual offender.”
Barber admitted three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child; two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child; three counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child; and one count each of: possessing extreme pornographic images, possessing a prohibited image of a child and arranging the sexual exploitation of a child under 13.
His sentence also included a further six counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and failing to comply with Sex Offenders Register notification requirements. The sentence comprises a nine-year custodial period and four years on licence.
PC Emily Heriot, from the specialist management of sexual or violent offenders unit (MOSOVO), said: “Barber went to great efforts to conceal his continued sexual offending, with complete disregard for his sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements, which are in place to safeguard the public. These new convictions reflect the serious risk he poses to children.”