"No jail for pervert OAP who shared 1,300 sick images of children"

[dutchman]

The 75-year-old apologised in court for having the disgusting images



A Coventry pensioner who downloaded and shared "deeply distressing" images of children has avoided being sent to prison.

Among more than 1,300 indecent images found on devices owned by Lawrence Billings were some involving babies.

Police raided his home in Coventry last year and when officers said why they were there, the 75-year-old simply said: “I feel ashamed.”

Billings previously pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent still and moving images of children by downloading them and one charge of distributing some of the images.

But at Warwick Crown Court he was given a three-year community order with conditions of taking part in a sex offender programme for 100 days and a rehabilitation activity.

Billings, of Chingford Road, Longford, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for five years and to pay £340 costs.

Recorder Syfret, after reading a pre-sentence report on him, told Billings: “You are well aware that some of those images are deeply distressing. They represent real children, real human beings, being made to suffer atrociously.

“Not only did you view those images yourself, you actively shared them with other people, some of the images of babies and images of people in pain and distress, and over 500 human beings have been photographed in that way.

“But right from the outset you fully admitted what you had done, and you have apologised for your behaviour in clear terms this morning.

“I have come to the conclusion that, in effect, you had a form of addiction to these images.

“The question, then, is how should I approach sentence, bearing in mind the immediacy of your admissions of guilty, and I am just able to avoid passing an immediate prison sentence.”

[rebbonk]

We are gradually being desensitised to this sort of thing. Eventually, this 'perversion' will be deemed acceptable.