A man awaiting sentence for the sexual grooming of what he thought was a 13-year-old girl has now admitted downloading illegal images of children.
Thomas George Thompson, 58, appeared at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court this afternoon.
During a brief hearing Thompson — previously of Holyoke Terrace, Penrith, and now of Hala Road, Lancaster — pleaded guilty to two charges.
These are two offences of making indecent photographs of a child: two category B images between December 23, 2020, and 28th March this year; and 30 category C images between December 28 and May 15.
Category A is the most serious class of indecent photographs. Magistrates committed Thompson’s case to Carlisle Crown Court, where he is due to appear on Tuesday to be sentenced for these crimes and two others linked to his attempts to groom what he believed was a schoolgirl.
During a previous magistrates’ court hearing it emerged he had been caught in a police sting.
Prosecutor Pam Fee told this week’s court hearing the illegal images had been found after electronic devices — laptops and a mobile phone — were previously seized from him and analysed.
Thompson was granted unconditional bail ahead of his crown court appearance in front of a judge.
He told magistrates he had already begun to comply with sex offender notification requirements but the court heard he must reregister as a result of his latest guilty pleas.
