John Stoddart 69

Description

A retired IT worker who had more than 7,000 indecent images of children and 3,000 images of bestiality has been sentenced to 8 months in jail suspended for 2 years and hit with a 3,000 fine after a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.

John Stoddart, 65, of Madeira Road in Ventnor, appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court on 13th July where admitted 10 charges mainly relating to making and possessing indecent images of children.

As part of his sentencing at the Isle of Wight Crown Court by Judge R Hetherington today (Friday) he was also put on the sex offenders register for 10 years, given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order limiting his use of the internet, ordered to attend a 35-day rehabilitation programme and told his electronic devices will be destroyed.

Stoddart made in excess of 500 indecent images of children; 149 fell into the most severe category (A) for child abuse.

NCA officers arrested him in June 2018 after proving he had made child sex abuse files available on an online sharing platform. Files containing the words Pedoland, Preteen and Lolita were located and attributed to Stoddarts IP address and user profile.

Forensic analysis of his digital devices found 7,256 indecent images and 754 videos from as early as 2004. An additional 3,000 images related to bestiality.

During interview he initially denied all allegations and said he was not sexually attracted to children. He said he sometimes clicked on online files to give them a go, and that hed once inadvertently seen a video of a baby being abused by clicking into a pop-up on his screen.

Within the downloaded material, officers found Stoddart was a fan of online games and visual stories featuring erotic encounters with adults, children and animals.

He admitted to having a fascination with incest because it was taboo and said he had been collecting extreme pornography since living in Germany in the 1970s.

Martin Matthews, NCA operations manager, said:

Over decades Stoddart had made and amassed a vast collection of imagery that was both obscene and involved the sexual exploitation of children.

He took pleasure in experiencing a virtual world online that involved violence and sexual abuse. Stopping this before it ever became a reality was paramount to our officers.

Protecting children remains a top priority for the NCA and we wont stop in our pursuit of those individuals who pose a threat.

An NSPCC spokesperson has said:

The scale of Stoddarts horrific collection is extremely disturbing. These kind of images capture abuse which could stay with the victims for the rest of their lives and Stoddart has helped provide a demand for them.

The NSPCC continues to call on the Government and tech giants to crack down on this disgusting trade and ensure no child is forced to endure abuse for the gratification of sexual predators.