A south Cumbrian man has been sentenced by a judge for crimes which included illegal possession of a perverted picture showing sexual interference with a decapitated corpse.
Police had been made aware that indecent images of children were being uploaded to a device with an IP address serving the home of Jake Stewart.
In June, 2021, a search was executed at his home and an iPhone was seized. Initially 27-year-old Stewart claimed he may have been the victim of Facebook hack, and said he had been viewing legal pornography.
However, illegal material was found to have been in his possession. This included five indecent photographs of children classed in category C (A is the most serious).
There were 47 images showing people having sex with animals, and one showing sexual inference with a decapitated human corpse.
This latter image was accessible on the device found by police, Carlisle Crown Court heard.
Stewart, of Hall Park, Burneside, pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children and three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images.
His barrister, Claire Larton, suggested rehabilitation work could be carried out to assist him and also provide significant benefit to the wider public.
Judge Nicholas Barker imposed a 24-month community order but noted, with reference to Stewart’s interview with a probation officer, that he had shown a lack of empathy towards youngsters who were victims of crimes captured in the images.
“You have, in my judgement, a perverted and deeply unhealthy interest in depraved sexual activity,” said the judge.
Stewart must complete a rehabilitation requirement, sex offender treatment course, 150 hours’ unpaid work and an eight-week electronically monitored night time curfew.
In addition he must comply with notification requirements as party of the sex offenders’ register, and the strict terms of a prevention order, both for five years.
