Paedophile with images of kids as young as two comes 'within whisker' of prison

A total of 5,446 images and videos were found on a laptop and hard drive belonging to 66-year-old Martin Riley when police went to an address in Daddlebrook, Telford, on October 29, 2020.

Shrewsbury Crown Court, sitting at Telford Magistrates Court, was told that children in the images and movies ranged from two to 14 years old. Ages read out to the court also included five, nine and 10 years old.

Riley admitted three counts of making indecent photographs, one count of possessing a prohibited image, one count of possessing a paedophile manual and one charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving an animal.

Prosecutor, Mr Charles Crinion, told the court that the images found were created over a four-year period from 2016 to 2020.

Officers also found images of a female involving in sexual activity with a dog.

He also said that Riley gave police usernames he used for accessing material on the dark web during interview.

Mitigating, Mr Robert Edwards said that Riley was "clear" that if there was "no demand" for such images then they "would not be made".

He went on to say that the defendant was "one of the most honest people" he'd come across when it came to disclosing his offending, and said Riley gave "remarkable insight and honesty into what he was doing and why he was doing it".

Riley also admitted he'd been looking at such images for a decade.

Asking the judge to avoid a custodial sentence, Mr Edwards said the case had been delayed by three years. He said that for "cooperating" Riley this had made it "difficult to understand", and he "wants to know what his fate is".

It was also said that Riley, who had no previous convictions, "has never had any inclination to commit contact offences".

Judge Anthony Lowe told Riley that the children in the video would have been "irrevocably damaged" by the abuse they suffered.

He added: "There's no cure, if you are sexually attracted to children you will always be sexually attracted to children. Every time you are tempted (to watch child abuse) you must resist the temptation," telling Riley that he had an addiction.

He sentenced Riley, now of Branstreet Road, Blackpool, to a 16-month jail term suspended for two years.

Riley was also given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and 10-year notification order, 200 hours of unpaid work, 50 rehabilitation activity days and told to take part in an accredited programme to help with his rehabilitation. Forfeiture and destruction orders were issued for the laptop and hard drives.

"You came within a whisker of going down those steps (to the cells) where you would have been for six months," he said in a parting message to Riley.