A SICK pervert caught with more than 32,000 indecent pictures of children on his computer has been spared jail.
Harry Daniel, 55, of Knottingley, had his computer seized by police investigating claims he had repeatedly exposed himself to a teenage girl from his bedroom window.
Carmel Pearson, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday that forensic ex
perts found 32,524 images of child abuse victims and youngsters under the age of 18 – ranging in seriousness from level one to the highest rating, level five.
Handing him a three-year community supervision order, Judge Sally Cahill QC told Daniel: “I have thought very long and hard about the appropriate sentence in this case because there can be no question in anyone’s mind that you deserve custody.
“But if I send you to custody today it seems you would come out with exactly the same risk of this happening again.”
The court heard Daniel, of The Poplars, Broomhill, has been taking part in a sex offenders’ treatment programme as part of his sentence for harassing the teenager.
Ms Pearson said Daniel had been seen standing naked in his window on several occasions, gesturing to the woman to come inside and was arrested on June 18 last year.
Michael Smith, mitigating, told the court Daniel had been complying with the programme since he was sentenced last September.
He said: “It is not without importance that he had not committed an offence before 2000. You will see that coincides with the collapse of his marriage and the death of his step-daughter.
“This seems to have led to a downward spiral. He started drinking and lost his job.”
The judge ordered Daniel to re-start the programme, and said: “This is giving you the opportunity to prove that you will not offend like this in future – should you do so, it will be custody.”
She said she was “particularly concerned” that some of the level four images found his computer were of “very tiny children”.
Daniel was made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from having anyone under 18 in his house, seeking work involving children, possessing or passing on pornographic images, having pictures of children, watching any female changing her clothes in public and having camera equipment – including mobile phones with cameras.
He had admitted eight counts of making indecent photographs of children.
The full article contains 400 words and appears in Ponte and Cas Express newspaper.
