Locations
Fingringhoe Road, Abberton, Colchester, Essex, CO5
Description
A TRAINEE teacher Googled if it was natural for him to be attracted to 14-year-old girls, a court heard.
Hector Moyes, 28, admitted he had been a bit silly to police officers after they found ten videos of the most serious Category A, involving the sexual abuse of children, on two electronic devices.
Ipswich Crown Court heard on Tuesday how officers examined an Apple MacBook and an iPhone during a search warrant executed at Moyes address in Fingringhoe Road, Langenhoe, Colchester in June 2021.
But Adam Squibbs, mitigating, told the court his clients offences between January and February of last year came during a mental breakdown.
Having seized the two electronic devices last June, police officers arrested Moyes after finding he had used the internet to access indecent images of children.
A number of indecent images depicting girls as young as ten-years-old being sexually abused were found on the MacBook.
On the iPhone, officers discovered vast swathes of pornography had been downloaded on messenger platform Kik.
Examinations of Moyes internet history showed he had Googled if it was natural for a man in his twenties to be attracted to 14-year-old girls.
Matthew Bagnall, prosecuting, highlighted this was during a period where the defendant was a trainee music teacher at a secondary school.
But Mr Squibbs said Moyes, who is a church organist, had a mental breakdown which resulted in a brief and destructive pornography addiction.
He said his client entered a mental health crisis following the death of his grandmother and the revelation his father had vascular dementia.
Sentencing him to six months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, Judge Emma Peters said most people dont turn to the misery of child pornography when having a breakdown.
She added by fuelling the trade of cruel and disgusting abuse of children, Moyes had lost his teaching career.
Moyes admitted possession of ten Category A videos, as well as four images and one video at Category B and eight images and three videos at Category C.
He was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work, given a 40 day rehabilitation requirement and a sexual harm prevention order for seven years. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for the same period.