Pervert Stephen Winterbone from Dartford spared jail for child porn offences
9:50am Friday 10th February 2012 in News By Jim Palmer
Pervert spared jail for child porn offences so he can get help
A MAN found with more than 2,000 child and animal porn pictures on his laptop has been spared jail so he can get help.
Fifty-year-old Stephen Winterbone brought a hold-all to his sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday (February 9) well aware he could be spending his immediate future at Her Majesty’s Pleasure.
Describing the offences, Judge Philip Statman said: “You sat in your bedsit downloading images, in my judgement entirely for your own sexual gratification, and you did not consider for a moment the great damage that you are causing by this indirect means, downloading images or children who are being abused by adults in order that they can be created.”
Police officers raided Winterbone’s bedsit in Priory Road, Dartford, last March after Gloucester police uncovered information that Winterbone had accessed indecent images of children on a hijacked, innocuous-sounding website.
Police seized two computers and a mobile phone from his room and Winterbone, who was not in, was arrested at Dartford Civic Centre that afternoon.
In police interview, he told officers he often used porn websites but was not interested in children, instead preferring mature women.
He was charged with eight counts of making indecent pornographic images of children and two of possessing extreme pornographic images involving intercourse with animals. There were more than 2,000 child porn images on his computer, including 68 at the second-worst level four rating.
Speaking in mitigation, Liam Loughlin said: “He accepts entirely the impact of possessing these images was entirely wrong.
“He knows that looking at indecent images of children had a knock-on effect.”
Judge Statman said he had a ‘dilemma’ when sentencing Winterbone.
He said: “If I send you to prison today you will be out pretty shortly and nothing will have been done to ensure that in the long term the public is protected.”
Winterbone was given a three-year community order to attend 80 sexual offenders’ rehabilitation sessions, a specified activity order, a three-year supervision order and made to attend six training and employment sessions.
He will be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for five years, was disqualified from working with children indefinitely and will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.
Judge Statman added: “It seems to me the harder task for you is the order of the court than the short spell in prison.”
