Locations
Percy Terrace, Houghton-le-spring, Houghton Le Spring, Sunderland, DH4
Description
A paedophile tradesman sought out horrific child abuse images after becoming "desensitised" to adult pornography.
Callum Robins was caught with indecent images of children between the ages of four and 10 who were in "distress".
The 34-year-old father-of-three was caught in possession of five category A images, seven category B, and four category C. Robins had been using the Telegram app and WhatsApp to view the abuse material.
On Monday, Robins, of Percy Terrace, Houghton-le-Spring, appeared at Durham Crown Court to be sentenced for three counts of making indecent images. He had pleaded guilty to the offences.
The court heard that on April 6, police went to Robins' address where he was arrested. His Huawei mobile phone was also seized and searched.
Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, said: "The phone was seized and images were recovered from the device. They had been deposited there using Telegram, WhatsApp and thumbnails." The court heard that images had been saved to the phone's gallery, with some depicting children between the ages of four and 10 in "some distress".
In police interview, Robins claimed he had been in an adult porn group chat which involved 150 people from around the world and recalled seeing indecent images. However, he couldn't account for the images being found in his phone's gallery. Ms Haugstad said that he also claimed to be out of the area when the images were downloaded, which was "not correct".
The Telegram app had also been installed by Robins. Deliberate search terms had also been used by him and some images had been deleted.
Tabitha Buck, defending, said Robins was of previous good character and pleaded guilty on the day of trial. She said the offences were committed during an addiction to alcohol and cocaine.
She said: "He owned his own business and was working as a roofer and in cladding. He had a partner and three children and was the sole provider for the family. He resorted to drinking alcohol and taking cocaine. He was quite addicted to adult pornography and was becoming desensitised to that and was seeking more extreme sources."
Judge Robinson sentenced Robins to 10 months prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to carry out 80 hours unpaid work. He must also complete 30 rehabilitation days. A five year sexual harm prevention order was imposed, and he will be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.