Locations
Spoutfield Road, Stoke-on-trent, City Of Stoke-on-trent, ST4
Description
A baby-faced pervert has avoided jail after being caught with hundreds of child abuse images. 'Reclusive' John Jenkins became engrossed in a disturbing online world, sparking his twisted desires.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the 24-year-old soon began viewing and downloading hundreds of images of children as his depravity ‘spiralled’.
The defendant, of Spoutfield Road, Cliffe Vale, went on to plead guilty to three charges of making indecent images of a child and possessing 386 prohibited image of a child in September last year. And in his sentencing remarks, the judge said Stoke-on-Trent and the rest of the UK is experiencing an 'epidemic of child porn'.
Prosecutor Anthony Longworth detailed how Jenkins had stored a variety of Category A, B and C images on his computer. Now the pervert has been handed a two-year suspended sentence.
Catherine O’Reilly, mitigating, reminded the court that ‘there were no suggestions he has made attempts to reach out to anyone under the age of 16’, adding: This is a young man who falls foul of some serious offences. But he is taking serious work to avoid further offending.
“As soon as he was arrested, he did seek help. He sought the guidance of counselling agencies recommended to him by the probation service and engaged in one-to-one sessions.
"He has no previous convictions. It’s clear he has shown genuine remorse and shame for his actions. He has also closed down his online accounts to reduce the risk of potential harm.”
Jenkins was handed a 34-week prison sentence - suspended for two years - along with 60 hours of unpaid labour. He was also handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, requiring him to keep police up to date with his personal information and any online accounts.
Judge Graeme Smith told Jenkins: “Tragically, this court has to deal with cases like this every day of the week. There is an epidemic of child porn in this city and across the country. While you haven’t created any of this material, your consumption of it creates a demand and perpetuates its production.
“As you descended further into this online world, you became more and more divorced from reality. You freely admit that you went down a rabbit hole.
“Fortunately, you didn’t have as many pictures of children as others who have stood before this court. Many were animated and generated images. Although these are still illegal, they thankfully don’t depict real children.”