Pervert with 3,000 abuse images spared prison


A paedophile has been spared prison after being found with thousands of child sex abuse images
Peter Norris appeared at Basildon Crown Court to be sentenced after admitting possessing more than 3,000 explicit images of children.
This included 429 of the most serious category, 365 of category B and 2,566 images graded as category C across multiple devices.
Police executed a warrant at his home, in Glastonbury Close, Westcliff, in August of last year after informing Norris they had reason to search the house.
The 75-year-old was arrested and made full admission when interviewed by police, telling officers he was addicted to adult porn and “stumbled across” the illegal images.
Norris admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of children, one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving an animal and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child.
Sentencing him judge Samantha Leigh impressed the devastating effect downloading child sex abuse images can have on the lives of those involved.
She said: “Whenever a child is abused and a photograph is taken, most children know they’re taken and they have to live with that – I don’t know how but they do.
“And each time someone looks at it, that child is being abused again.
“Some are now adults – they have no control of it and they know that people are looking at it and gaining pleasure from it.
“That’s an incredibly difficult thing for them as children and as adults to deal with.”
The judge told Norris she had read his references and letters from members of his family including his wife and son who were present at court.
She added: “All of them are really at a loss as to how this has happened and they didn’t know about it but they are incredibly supportive of you still.”
While Judge Leigh acknowledged the offences crossed the custody threshold, Norris was handed a prison sentence of four months, suspended for two years.
He must sign the sex offenders register for seven years and must complete an internet sex offenders rehabilitation programme with the probation service