[A] MAN who downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children has been sentenced by a judge.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how 57-year-old Graham Plant had been warned by his sister, and advised to seek help, after an indecent image was discovered.
But two years later, after he was admitted to hospital, she and her husband called police amid concerns over the content of electronic devices they found at his home. These contained almost 1,000 indecent images of children, including 74 classed in category A, the most serious.
These were downloaded between 2008 and 2015.
Plant, a man of previous good character, admitted making the illegal images, and possessing prohibited images of a child.
He was handed his punishment today (TUES), when Recorder Louise Brandon spoke of a “difficult sentencing exercise”.
Concluding that Plant, of West Close, Shap, wouldn’t get the specialist help he needed in prison, she suspended a 12-month jail term for two years.
He must sign the sex offenders’ register and abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order, each for 10 years.
Recorder Brandon told Plant: “It is not a victim-less crime. Real children are depicted in these images and they are suffering real abuse.”
