Man who had over 160,000 images of children handed a suspended prison sentence
A man who was found with 166,000 indecent images of children as young as three years old on electronic devices has narrowly avoided being sent to prison.
Ryan Newbrook, aged 40, of High Street, Dawley, in Telford was told that he wasn't being immediately sent to prison because there had been a three year delay in the police and courts dealing with him.
Shrewsbury Crown Court also heard that there is a possibility that Newbrook has autistic traits which could mean that he downloaded images with no possibility of getting sexual gratification out of all of them. He has also been seeking help.
Newbrook had admitted as early as 2020 having 156,295 Category C images of children, 4,563 Category A images of children, 5,094 Category B images of children, 93 images that portrayed a person performing an act of intercourse with an animal and 772 prohibited images of children.
Hundreds of the images were videos, the court sitting on Monday was told. The making and possessing indecent images offences took place between August 26, 2006 and June 9, 2020.
Suzanne Francis, prosecuting, said that on June 9, 2020 police had raided his parents' home and found the images on a range of electronic devices.
But she added: "It was three years before the police interviewed him for a second time."
He had pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates' Court on August 15, 2023 but there was another delay before he could be sentenced.
She added that from 2006 to 2020 Newbrook had downloaded images of girls aged between three and 15 years, with the majority being in the seven to 14 years old.
She said he had admitted finding the images "sexually exciting" but after his crimes had been discovered he had "sought help in lockdown."
Stephen Scully, defending, said: "This is a case where he fully admitted the charges in 2020.
"In the first lockdown, to his credit he has sought help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation."
Mr Scully said that his client exhibited certain autistic traits, including isolation and a social awkwardness. He added that he gets infatuated in certain things.
He said Newbrook had started looking at adult pornography then started exploring what he described in interview as "jail bait" and it became an obsession that he was "not able to control".
Mr Scully said Newbrook had made a frank and open admission of what he had done and was "crying out for help and assistance."
He claimed that Newbrook could be rehabilitated in the community, but in prison he could not receive the help he needed.
It would, Mr Scully said: "Allow him to work with people to stop him going down that route again."
Judge Anthony Lowe said "substantial number of images" put the case in a different category.
Speaking to Newbrook he said: "The only issue in the end is whether they delay is so long, and taking account what you have done, whether that can justify me suspending a prison sentence that is justified.
"Even now I am struggling to decide which way to go."
Addressing the issue of more than 4,500 of the most serious Category A images that were downloaded over a 14 year period, judge Lowe said: "The children involved are not as young as in some cases but we are dealing with children as young as seven.
"The officer in the case said some of the children pictured were showing signs of discernible distress."
He concluded that a three year jail sentence, reduced by one year because of Newbrook's guilty plea, was justified.
"You need to understand that each and every child you have viewed is not some computer generated image. They are real children whose lives are being destroyed," he said.
He added: "No matter what courses you take, ultimately this is something you will have to fight the urge and not to look at these images."
But the delay in the case being dealt with proved crucial for the judge to send Newbrook straight to prison.
"The delay is too great to justify giving you an immediate custodial sentence."
He said there was a public interest in preventing future offences.
But judge Lowe said plenty of other judges and courts would have sent him straight to jail.
"Lucky for you that you have got me," he said, deciding to suspend the jail sentence for two years.
"If you commit any offence then you will serve that sentence.
"It is only because of the delay that you are not going to prison."
Newbrook will also have to carry out 27 days of group work, 25 rehabilitation activities and 250 hours of unpaid work in 12 months.
Because he lost his job before Christmas, Newbrook has not been ordered to pay costs but faces paying a victim surcharge.
His electronic equipment will be destroyed and he will have to tell the police within three days every time he moves house in the next 10 years.
Newbrook was handed concurrent sentences for the Category B, C and extreme images which did not affect the total length of the sentence.
Judge Lowe concluded by telling the court that another factor in him handing down a suspended jail sentence was that Newbrook had not waited for punishment before seeking help.