John Lee 46

Description

A paedophile tax officer kept a sickening collection of child sex abuse images for three years.

John Lee had a total of 4,781 indecent images of children, 134 of which were videos of children as young as two being raped.

The 43-year-old, who worked for HMRC for 20 years before being sacked yesterday, also shared 14 child sex abuse images on WhatsApp and Kik Messenger with a fellow paedophile.

He told him he wanted to have sex with an 11-year-old girl he knew, and even sent him a picture of her.

Peter Hussey, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court, said: "All charges arose from an investigation by Merseyside Police following the execution of a warrant at his address in May last year, when police had reason to believe he had been downloading indecent photographs of children from the internet."

Mr Hussey said the images were discovered after a laptop and a phone were seized.

Lee kept a total of 4,781 indecent images of children, of which 1,041 were images of child rape.

Among his vile collection were 1,006 Category B images and 2,734 Category C images.

The court heard 172 of the images were videos, which included 134 videos of child rape.

Lee distributed 14 images, of which seven were videos on WhatsApp and Kik Messenger.

Mr Hussey said he had shared images with a user called 'Incestloverboy' and in the discussion Lee sent a picture of an 11-year-old girl he knew, who was fully clothed, and said he wanted to have sex with her.

Lee, of Dalemeadow Road, Knotty Ash, admitted three counts of downloading, one count of possessing and one count of distributing indecent images of children between July 25, 2017 and May 21, 2020.

David Birrell, defending, asked the judge to consider letters from Lee's family and said a report from a psychosexual therapist states it "appears he had certain mental health issues" as a result of "work related stress" and depression.

Mr Birrell said Lee, who has no previous convictions, is "full of remorse and shame" as well as "self loathing".

He said Lee was "hardworking" and had been employed with the civil service for 20 years during which he "rose through the ranks" and had a "distinguished career which came to an end yesterday when he was dismissed from employment".

The court heard his wife of 19 years was "standing by him" and Mr Birrell added Lee has two sons.

Mr Birrell said: "They know about this and he continues to see them through supervised contact."

He said Lee's risk of offending according to a pre sentence report was low and said after the offences came to light he contacted a helpline, completed a 10-week programme with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and paid for therapy.

Mr Birrell said he had also sought medical help for mental health issues and is now taking anti-depressants.

He asked the judge to consider the impact of the pandemic on prisoners and said there has been a "traumatic effect" on Lee's sons.

The judge, Recorder Ian Unsworth, QC, said: "Whilst the images of children might have been something you fantasised about and collected in the early hours of the morning, each and every one is a real person.

"Each and every one is a victim, many of whom will have little consciousness of the horrors that have befallen them before they have even begun to walk or even begun to talk."

The judge said there was a number of "significant" aggravating features including the vulnerability of the children and the fact the images were distributed.

The judge also noted the "significant" mitigation including his lack of previous convictions and remorse.

Lee was jailed for 32 months and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

He must also adhere to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period of time.