Locations
St George's Road, Hull, East Riding Of Yorkshire, HU3
Description
An ex-boxer who a judge says was "preoccupied with teenage girls" was caught with more than 26,300 indecent images of children.
Joe Wilson, 33, of St George's Road, off Hessle Road, west Hull, admitted three offences of possessing indecent images of children between April 2016 and January 2021. The images were part of a "disgusting" trade which led to sexual abuse against children, Hull Crown Court heard.
Stuart Bell, prosecuting, said Wilson had been arrested in his home in February 2021 after his activity online caught the attention of the National Crime Agency. Two phones were seized from him, reports Hull Live.
There were 20 images and nine videos in the most serious Category A, 120 still images and eight videos in Category B and 26,171 still images and 11 videos in Category C. They were in a "zipped" folder, a way of storing large numbers of images but taking up little space on the phone.
Wilson claimed that he had downloaded and viewed only 529 of these images. He had saved and accessed links to websites known for having indecent images of children.
There were 114 pages of internet history linked to the websites, with search terms including "little girls". There were also searches for "Lolita" and under-18 dating apps.
Chat logs showed he had communicated with girls aged from over 16 to under 18. Wilson had sent intimate pictures of himself and had received naked pictures back from one girl. There were no charges regarding this aspect, however.
Nigel Clive, mitigating, said Wilson had no previous convictions and he had finally pleaded guilty on the day of a scheduled trial. "There is perhaps little to mitigate offences such as these," said Mr Clive.
Most of the images were in the least serious category and were in the "zipped" folder and were not accessed. Wilson, a groundsman, accessed images when he was in a "downward spiral" and he turned to pornography instead of drink or drugs. He was remorseful and had been assessed as being a low risk.
Judge Mark Bury said: "He is sexually preoccupied and likes girls under 18." Judge Bury told Wilson: "You have a sexual interest in teenage girls between 16 and 19. You were essentially looking for females who were under 18 but not necessarily under 16."
The vast majority of the images found were of girls aged under 16 but very few were under the age of 10. "You had a high sex drive and you were sexually preoccupied," said Judge Bury.
"Offences like this are always serious. There are victims. Children under the age of 18 need protection." Each image that was viewed meant that there were victims of abuse and people made money out of the "disgusting" market. "You need to leave alone teenagers who are not 18," said Judge Bury.
Wilson was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and 20 days' rehabilitation. He was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years. The two phones will be forfeited.