Michael Elder 45

Description

A pervert with a long history of looking at child abuse images claimed he failed to tell police about a secret iPad for six months due to "dyslexia and stress".

Michael Elder has been in court on numerous occasions for more than a decade for having indecent images and breaching orders designed to control his behaviour. In June last year that Elder was given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order when he was jailed for his third conviction for indecent images offences.

One of the terms of the order stated that he had to notify the police within three days of getting an internet-enabled device. An officer went to his home in June this year to do a risk review and when he asked Elder to provide all of his devices, he presented a phone and an iPad. He told the officer the iPad was new but he had bought it six months previously and had not informed police.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Elder, 44, of Raby Gate, Byker, Newcastle, has 25 previous convictions. In 2010, for possessing indecent images of a child, he got supervision and a sexual offences prevention order. In 2011, for failing to comply with the requirements of the sex offenders register and failing to comply with a community order, he got 13 weeks in prison.

In 2012 he was given a community order for possessing indecent images of a child and breaching the sexual offences prevention order. He was also given a sexual harm prevention order.

In 2019 he was convicted of having a phone he failed to declare to police and then last year he was jailed for eight months and was given a ten-year sexual harm prevention order for making indecent images, relating to offences committed in 2017 and 2018..

Now he has been sentenced to eight months suspended for 18 months for breaching the sexual harm prevention order. He was also ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work and the sexual harm prevention order and sex offenders registration continue.

Judge Tim Gittins said Elder had blamed dyslexia and stress for failing to understand the importance of registering his devices and failing to do so. He told him: "I think from your record you were well aware of the need to register devices and what is odd is you have a previous offence in 2019 for failing to register a mobile device so you were well aware of the potential consequences here. This was a deliberate breach.

"The record you have for downloading and possessing indecent images and such orders goes back to 2009. You have received, in the past, community orders and sentences of imprisonment and that track record is why it's of such grave concern that you are able to possess a device that is capable of accessing the internet for months before it's shown to the police.

"But the odd feature is you did show it to the police, they didn't discover it, and when it was examined it was found to be clear of any such disgusting images that you have had previously."

The judge said he would suspend the sentence because locking him up would mean he would lose his home and job and may set his rehabilitation back. But he warned him: "You are standing on the edge of a cliff. If you take a step, make sure it's a step back, away from the edge."

John Crawford, defending, said: "In the past a lot of this has stemmed from a drinking problem and feelings of worthlessness and feels he has nothing to lose. He has moved on from having a dangerous relationship with alcohol.

"He is in a much better position in terms of his personal circumstances and willingness to engage and not fall back into the damaging cycle he has been in for a significant number of years. He is working zero hours, as and when."