October 27, 2017 4.18 pm This story is over 77 months old

Boston paedophile ‘sexually aroused’ by images of toddlers being abused is jailed

He took pictures of young girls on the dashcam in his car.
Photo: Fotolia

A paedophile who downloaded indecent images of toddlers being sexually abused has been jailed at Lincoln Crown Court.

Andrew Searl after police raided his then home at Benington in February this year after receiving information that child pornography was being accessed from a computer based at the address.

Ian Way, prosecuting, said that over 1,700 indecent images of children were later found on Searl’s phone.

When he was interviewed he confessed to having a sexual interest in young girls.

He went on to admit that while driving around the area he had taken screen shots of young girls using the dashcam in his car.

Mr Way said: “He immediately admitted that he knew what he was doing was wrong. He said he had tried to stop but it was like an addiction to him.

A total of 192 indecent photographs of the most serious category of images were found on the phone including some featuring children as young as two or three years old being sexually abused.

Mr Way said: “The age of the children is particularly young. That is an aggravating feature.”

Searl, 43, of South Square, Boston, admitting three charges of making a total of 1,764 indecent images of children.

He also admitted possession of four extreme pornography images.

He was jailed for eight months and placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

He was also given a sexual harm prevention order which will last for 10 years.

Judge Simon Hirst, passing sentence, told Searl: “This type of offending is not in any way victimless. Every photograph and every film has the face of a child who has been abused in the most cruel way possible.

“In behaving as you did you encourage the making of these images.”

Stuart Lody, in mitigation, urged that Searl should be spared an immediate jail sentence.

“He has been frank. He does seem to have shown a remarkable degree of insight into his behaviour and the effect upon others of his behaviour.

“He seems almost alone amongst paedophiles who appear before these courts because he has accepted that he is sexually aroused by these images.”