August 2022

Paedophile had sick manual on how to abuse children

A paedophile who was caught with a sick manual on how to abuse children of different ages without being detected by their parents has been thrown behind bars.

A judge said it was “hard to fathom the level of depravity required” to create such a manual as he jailed Daryl Stokes, 41.

Police uncovered hours of graphic footage and thousands of photographs showing young children being abused on devices belonging to Stokes after they received intelligence about his online use.

The paedophile, from Middlesbrough, had previously been jailed for earlier offences of making indecent images of children

He had only been released from prison under supervision in August last year after he was handed a 17-month sentence in December 2020.

He was subject to a sexual harm prevention order, which required him to declare all of his online devices to his offender manager and restrictions were placed on his internet use.

But when police visited his home less than a year after his release after receiving intelligence and told Stokes they were going to thoroughly search his property, he admitted he had a secret mobile phone hidden in his loft.

Officers then uncovered hours of sickening footage, which Teesside Crown Court judge Anthony Brown said showed horrifying clips of babies and children as young as six.

An online paedophile manual belonging to Stokes also contained a four-minute slideshow with graphic detail about how to abuse children of different ages and how to avoid mothers detecting the horrific abuse, prosecutor Christopher Baker told the court.

Judge Anthony James Brown told Stokes: “The sexual harm prevention order was put in place when you committed similar offences in 2020. It is clear to me that you were fully aware of the terms of your sexual harm prevention order when you were released from prison.

“You have breached the order in an utterly calculated way. The category A images depicted children as young as six…with the most appalling degradation inflicted upon them and abuse that was physically painful to them.

“To cap it all – the digital paedophile manual. It’s hard to fathom the level of depravity required to create such a publication. I regard you, I’m afraid, as a committed paedophile.”

The judge jailed Stokes for five years and three months and made him subject to notification requirements and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.