April 16, 2021 3.23 pm This story is over 50 months old

Man avoids jail despite being caught with 32k indecent child images

Three videos were described as being in the most serious category

An “isolated” man downloaded thousands of indecent images of children, Lincoln Crown Court was told on Friday.

Nigel Deacon was caught after police received information and raided his home at Cranwell in July 2019.

Edna Leonard, prosecuting, said images had been downloaded onto laptops and two USB sticks which were later examined by officers.

The investigation revealed that Deacon had been downloading illegal images of children aged between nine and 15 years old.

Over 32,000 indecent images of children were found on the devices the vast majority of which were in the least serious category.

Seven images, including three videos, were in the most serious category.

Miss Leonard said: “The defendant was arrested and interviewed and made admissions.”

Deacon, 59, of North Road, Cranwell, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children.

He also admitted possession of 198 prohibited images of children and possession of 124 extreme pornographic images.

Leanne Summers, in mitigation, said Deacon had no previous convictions and has sought help following his arrest.

She told the court: “He isn’t able to explain his offending. He describes it as totally irrational thinking at a time when he says he was running away from reality.

“He has for many years lived an isolated life. He has been in what he calls a very dark place.”

Miss Summers said that Deacon’s business was on the point of collapse as he lost customers when details of his offences became known.

Deacon was given an eight-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 50 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.