Ludlow paedophile jailed despite paying £2,000 for therapy to stop sexual urges
A Ludlow paedophile who paid £2,000 for therapy to try to stop his sexual urges towards children has been jailed for giving in to them again.
Christopher Morris, aged 57, already had a long history of child sex offences dating back to 2010, and had previously spent time in prison before he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court this week.
In his latest offence, he downloaded a specialised browser to a laptop and two tablets so he could access child porn online without being detected. He handed over the laptop, which he kept in a carrier bag in his shed, to the police when they visited his home on February 20 last year.
Having the browser on his devices was in breach of a sexual harm prevention order which was put in place after he committed previous offences. In an interview with police, Morris said he had downloaded 400 to 500 child porn images.
Morris, of Gravel Hill, Ludlow, pleaded guilty to breaching the order.
Rob Edwards, mitigating, said Morris had displayed "active remorse" in paying for the 16-week Compassion Focused Risk Aware programme with a therapist.
He also said that Morris had been his mother's carer up until she died in November, and that a prison term would "set him back".
However, Judge Anthony Lowe said that despite what Mr Edwards said, he was not persuaded that Morris was "anywhere near what I would regard as rehabilitated", and jailed him for 16 months.
Judge Lowe told Morris: "Mr Edwards points to the fact that you have taken steps to try and address the issues in relation to the sexual urges to children you clearly have."
He said that the only way Morris will be prevented from giving in to his urges would be by being sent to prison.
"The behaviour has certainly been going on since 2010 and there has probably been a sexual attraction since longer than that," said Judge Lowe.
"In those 12 years you have not been able to resist the temptation to view that sort of material.
"This is a persistent breach, given you had downloaded the browser some three years before you were arrested."
The Crown Prosecution Service did not analyse Morris' devices, so Judge Lowe said he could only sentence on the basis that the images were of the lowest "Category C" level. He ordered the forfeiture and destruction of Morris's devices.
