February 2021

Paedophile filmed girls in Middlesbrough town centre and had stash of sick images

A paedophile found with a hoard of sickening abuse images admitted he would film unsuspecting women and girls in Middlesbrough town centre.

Tomasz Chmielewski was found with almost 2,000 indecent images, over 600 of which were in category A, the most serious kind.

The 41-year-old was also found with a video and pictures he had made of an unsuspecting teenage girl while he was on a trip to the Lake District.

Chmielewski appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Monday to be sentenced for voyeurism, possession of indecent images and possession of prohibited images of children.

He required a Polish interpreter throughout proceedings.

The charges spanned from April 26, 2018 to August 5, last year.

The court was told that police raided Chmielewski’s home on Lanchester Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, last August after a referral from the National Crime Agency.

As soon as officers turned up, Chmielewski “accepted he was responsible and stated images were on his mobile phone”.

He was arrested and all of his electronic devices were seized, with Chmielewski being “unusually candid” about his crimes.

A huge collection of sickening images were subsequently found.

He admitted to police he had a sexual attraction to girls between the ages of 13 and 15 and said he had been accessing indecent images for “around a decade”.

The court heard that Chmielewski admitted to officers he would “record women and girls around the town centre” and would keep the videos for himself.

One unsuspecting victim was a teenage girl who Chmielewski had recorded and taken pictures of while on a trip to the Lake District.

He also admitted sharing images, but the court was told that no evidence of distribution was found.

In mitigation, Sean Smith, said Chmielewski “accepted these are very serious crimes” and that he has “shown remorse”.

He said he made “full admissions” and that “he knows he has a problem”.

Mr Smith added that if Chmielewski was to be jailed, there would be a “financial impact” on his partner and that she would “have to move home”.

He said that a child who Chmielewski financially supports in Poland would also be affected.

Sentencing Chmielewski, who had no previous convictions, judge Jonathan Carroll said it was a “serious case with some troubling features”.

He handed Chmielewski an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The defendant must also carry out unpaid work and 40 rehabilitation activity days.

Chmielewski must complete a sex offender programme and will be on the sex offender register for 10 years.

He was made subject to a 10 year sexual harm prevention order also.