Jan 2011

Order for Pontypool man who had 921 indecent pictures

A PONTYPOOL man was sentenced after having 921 indecent pictures of young girls on his computers.

Jonathan David Blake, 41, of Graig View Terrace, Talywain, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday, where he was given a supervision order on top of the 158 days he has served in custody.

He had pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images.

Blake was arrested on July 22 last year on suspicion of arranging and facilitating child sex offences, the court heard.

While this was not proceeded with, police seized a laptop and computer containing 921 photographs of girls aged nine to 12.

These included 725 level one pictures which were of naked girls, 61 level two pictures, 27 level three pictures and 108 level four pictures, which included girls and adults involved in sex acts.

Prosecutor Helen Roddick said while some pictures were duplicates, they had mainly been emailed from people Blake talked to in chatrooms and downloaded from websites.

She said he admitted the offence when arrested, saying “I went through a bit of a phase, I was curious at the time”.

Andrew Morse, for Blake, said 158 days was an adequate sentence for the offence.

However, Judge Neil Bidder said he wasn’t satisfied Blake has addressed his problem and a rehabilitation order was necessary to protect the public.

He said: “You showed some appreciation in interview of how terrible the photos are and of the harm undoubtedly caused in taking them”, adding: “It’s a matter of concern that you have not come to terms with your own motivation for liking images of young female children.”

The judge passed a community order, where Blake will be under the supervision of the probation service for three years and will have to undergo a sexual offenders treatment programme.

He is also banned from living in the same house as a girl aged under 18 for five years.