Judge warns of ‘child sexual abuse images epidemic’ as latest North Staffordshire pervert snared
Pervert Stephen Deaville tried to get rid of his child abuse images – by giving them to a neighbour.
The 51-year-old handed his hard drive to the neighbour.
But the neighbour then produced the hard drive after police raided Deaville’s home. Now the defendant – from Edensor Street, Chesterton – has dodged jail and been handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that the raid was carried out at the Chesterton property in May, 2021. Police discovered dozens of child abuse images.
Prosecutor Nick Tatlow said: “A neighbour told the police that the day before the defendant had asked to leave some items in their house as the bailiffs were coming. Thinking they were doing good, the neighbour let the defendant place a computer tower in their house. The tower was seized by police.”
The court heard that Deaville had spent a period of time in custody.
Deaville admitted possessing pornographic images. He has been handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. The sentence includes 100 hours unpaid work and a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement
Judge Graeme Smith told him: “As we can see in these courts, we are facing an epidemic of child pornography. The number of images which you downloaded are relatively small but that does not make them any less serious.
There is no suggestion that you were directly involved but this consumption encouraged the making of such porn. You are someone who can be worked with. On balance, I am happy that you can be given a suspended sentence.”
