Luke Ringer 24

Description

He had almost 3,000 vile images

This Derby paedophile admitted to touching himself sexually while viewing sick images and films of babies and pre-pubescent children being abused. Derby Crown Court heard how 22-year-old Luke Ringer had been getting sexual satisfaction from the horrific movies and stills for more than seven years.

When police raided his home during an early morning bust they seized his mobile phone and computer tower and found almost 3,000 vile examples of what he got pleasure from. Also discovered were images of adults engaged in sex with animals and web search terms he was looking for illegal pornography.

Handing him an eight-month prison term, suspended for two years, Judge Martin Hurst said: "The children you look at on the internet are real children being raped in real time very often by their own parents. "And those are the images you uploaded for your own gratification.

"I hope you understand that? "You say you don't have a sexual interest in children, but the rest of us find that completely impossible to understand."

Stephen Kemp, prosecuting, said police received information an email address linked to Ringer was being used to download child abuse images. He said shortly before 7am on July 8, 2020, officers carried out a raid on the defendant's home and found him there.

The prosecutor said a Samsung mobile phone and a computer tower were seized and examined. On them were a total of 329 still images and 19 movies of the most serious category A, which typically show very young children being raped by adults.

Mr Kemp said there were 289 category B pictures and two films; 751 category C photographs; 1,700 prohibited (animated) images of children and 34 stills of people engaged in sexual activity with animals. He said: "There were also web searches which indicated he had been searching for indecent images of children, some of the images depicted babies and others of pre-pubescent children.

"He admitted he used the images to (touch himself sexually to) and he said it was because it was a taboo subject. "He said he was not sexually attracted to children and had never abused a child."

Ringer, of Kedleston Street and who was supported in court by an older man and woman, pleaded guilty to possession indecent images of children, extreme pornographic images and prohibited indecent images. He has no previous convictions of any kind.

Once Judge Hurst said he was not sending his client immediately to prison, defence barrister Steffan Fox said he had nothing to add in mitigation. As well as the suspended sentence, Judge Hurst ordered Ringer to carry out 200 hours unpaid work, pay 300 costs, to attend a 43-day sex offender programme and to do 45 rehabilitation sessions.

He also handed him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and placed him on the sex offender register, also for 10 years.