March 2010

Man sold computer with child abuse images on it

A PAEDOPHILE who sold his computer to a Plymouth secondhand shop failed to delete hundreds of pornographic images of boys first, a court has been told.

Prosecutor Jo Martin told Plymouth Crown Court that in January last year David Moist (pictured), of Keppel Terrace, Keyham, took his computer to Cash Converters – but staff preparing the machine for resale discovered the images and contacted police.

Moist was arrested on March 2 and admitted having taken some photos of boys in Torquay. They were fully clothed and the pictures were not indecent, but 452 other images downloaded from the internet were.

The court heard that Moist had used a search engine, putting in key words including ‘schoolboys.’

The downloaded images included 66 at level one, 263 at level two, 111 at level three and 12 at level four.

Level one is the least serious category and level five the most serious. Moist was shown the pictures and refused to admit they were of boys aged under 18.

Miss Martin said Moist, aged 57, had relevant convictions dating back to 1975 for offences including indecent assault on a male, gross indecency and breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

He was jailed for 18 months in 2002 for having indecent photos of children.

This time he pleaded guilty to seven counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one of possessing them.

McKenzie Robinson, for Moist, said: “He knows it must be jail.”He has struggled all his life with his sexual preferences.”As he has got older, he has got his sexual gratification from older boys.”

Judge Francis Gilbert QC sentenced Moist to two years in prison, less 119 days on remand to count.

He also imposed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order indefinitely, ordered him to remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years and ordered the destruction of the computer.