A convicted Carlisle sex offender has been jailed again and dubbed a danger to children after sick online offences came to light when he was visited by police last month.
Kenneth Burgess, 56, appeared at Carlisle Crown Court earlier today.
A prosecutor told how officers, acting on intelligence, went to Burgess’ address on 1st August and seized a Samsung mobile phone on which were found indecent images of children.
Thirteen showed the serious penetrative sexual abuse of youngsters and were classed in category A, the most serious. Three were category B photographs and 75 category C.
There were also 894 extreme images showing bestiality involving humans and animals. In addition to that, on Facebook Messenger, there were obscene chat exchanges in which Burgess described depraved fantasies involving youngsters.
It further emerged that within these messages Burgess had distributed an indecent category C image of a child to another person with similarly sick interests.
Burgess, of Bannisdale Way, Carlisle, had admitted six offences during a previous magistrates’ court hearing: three of making indecent photographs of children; possessing extreme pornographic imagery; distributing an indecent photograph of a child; and publishing an obscene article.
The court heard his previous convictions included robbery, grievous bodily harm and, in 2011, he was jailed for sexually abusing a child. He was later brought back to court and punished again for failing to comply with strict court orders made by the judge who locked him up.
A probation officer had concluded there was no stable pathway for Burgess in the community at present and Burgess’ barrister said the defendant acknowledged an immediate prison sentence lay in store.
Jailing Burgess for 16 months, Judge Michael Fanning told him: “You are a contact sex offender. With that in mind, and reading the contents of the (background) report, you have an obsessive sexual fascination with young females.
“Given an opportunity to reoffend, I don’t doubt you would take that opportunity. You are a danger to children.”
Burgess remains subject to sex offender notification requirements.
His case will be mentioned again later this month by a judge who is due to consider an application by the prosecution for further tough restrictions on his liberty to be imposed in the form of a sexual harm prevention order.
