Sex offender jailed after making over 200 indecent images of children

A Lincolnshire man who was caught with indecent photos of children on his computer equipment has been jailed for nine months.

Robert O’Farrell, 32, was arrested after police executed a search warrant at his parents’ home in Deeping St James.

Lincoln Crown Court heard officers seized a hard drive and computer equipment from O’Farrell’s bedroom at the property.

When the devices were examined by experts they were found to contain 21 indecent images of children in the most serious Category of A, 13 Category B images and 179 Category C images.

O’Farrell, who had no previous convictions, made no comment during police interview.

Sunil Khanna, mitigating, told the court O’Farrell was a vulnerable young man who suffered from a language disorder, and asked the judge to consider a suspended jail sentence.

Mr Khanna said: “The vast majority of images were Category B and C, these were the images he was seeking out. He was not looking for Category A images but admits he did look at them when he came across them.

“He was on a site chatting with others, and thereafter things snowballed and he looked at the images.

“Until now he was somebody who had no involvement with the courts or police at the age of 32.

“He was appalled when the police came and horrified that a raid had occurred in the house he shared with his parents. It made him realise how serious this is.

“He has now lost his job and has had to move out of his parents’ house to protect his mother’s job. He is now living in shared accommodation.”

O’Farrell, formerly of Swift Close, Deeping St James, now of no fixed address, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Passing sentence Judge Simon Hirst told O’Farrell this type of offending was not “victimless.”

The judge said: “Your case is troubling. There are a number of unusual features.

“One is that you set up two accounts proporting to be children, although no offences follow from that.

“There are moving images, and in recent times you have again looked at these images. I know that because of your self reporting to the Probation Service.”