Jail time for Ripon paedophile who collected hundreds of videos of child abuse

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Timothy Cheesbrough, 35, from Ripon, trawled the internet for debauched pictures of children aged as young as four, York Crown Court heard.

The pervert downloaded videos of children being raped and sexually abused and depraved movie clips featuring “erotic” dancing by a young girl, said prosecutor Julian Jones.

Cheesbrough, a supermarket worker, visited numerous dodgy websites including one in which he used video technology to encourage a girl, aged between 12 and 13, to expose an intimate part of her body.

He first came to the attention of police in September 2018 after they were tipped off about illegal online activity linked to his computer IP address, mobile phone number and associated Yahoo email accounts with female usernames.

Police swooped on his flat on September 27 and Cheesbrough was initially arrested on suspicion of the possession and distribution of indecent images.

He refused to answer police questions but forensic analysis of his internet devices, including an iPhone, desktop computer and hard drive, revealed a collection of more than 170 illegal child images of all levels of seriousness including 61 Category A images and videos – the worst kind of such material.

Mr Jones said some of the Category A videos were “particularly disturbing” and included girls between four and 12 years’ old being raped by adult males.

In one of the recorded videos - from a website frequented by like-minded individuals - Cheesbrough, and possibly others, urged a girl in a school uniform to expose an intimate part of her body.

“The female remains unidentified,” said Mr Jones.

Cheesbrough, of Kirkgate, had used PowerPoint software to record the live-streamed video, added Mr Jones.

The Ripon man admitted three counts of making indecent images and one of causing or inciting an under-age girl to engage in sexual activity.

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Temitayo Dasaolu, for Cheesbrough, said her client had embarked on his nefarious online activities after becoming socially isolated because he was working night shifts at the supermarket.

“He accepts he fell into this offending out of curiosity,” she added.

She said Cheesbrough had mental-health problems and had attempted suicide since his arrest in 2018. He had since sought professional help and had been planning to set up his own electrician’s business.

Judge Sean Morris told Cheesbrough: “You have fallen into the trap that the courts see often: of becoming addicted to surfing the internet looking for pornography which has descended into actively seeking out (indecent images of children).

“It’s bad enough looking at illegal images of children, but when an adult male goes online and takes part in the incitement of a child to engage in indecent behaviour, that I’m afraid is so serious that it can only be met by an immediate prison sentence.”

He added: “That child will soon realise that images of her are out there. What that will do to her mental health, one can only speculate.

“It was deliberately sought out (and) it would appear that that was a website where others were also observing or encouraging (the girl), and the images were recorded.”

Cheesbrough was jailed for 21 months of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on licence.

He was also slapped with a sexual-harm prevention order, which will last seven years and is designed primarily to curb his internet activities.

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He was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register which forces him to notify the authorities about any change in his circumstances and whereabouts after he is released from prison.