Pontypridd ,South Wales - Man was caught downloading child abuse – and his excuse was that he was 'addicted' to it

Jonathan Rowe, 45, was told by a judge: 'You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself'

A man who downloaded hundreds of images of child abuse for “perverted thrills” told the authorities he was “addicted” to watching the material.

Jonathan Rowe was found to have more than 10 hours worth of child pornography videos on his phone and laptop after initially telling police he had never searched for indecent images.

Sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court , Recorder Jones told the defendant: “You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.”

The court heard police searched the 45-year-old’s home in Pinewood Avenue, Pontypridd , on Sunday, July 24.

Prosecutor Ruth Smith said he told officers: “I’m confident there’s nothing on my computer as nobody has been on it.”

Police seized his phone and laptop, which were found to contain 59 of the most serious Category A images, including 12 videos.

Experts also found 37 Category B images, including 10 videos, plus 110 Category C images, including five videos.

Ms Smith confirmed police discovered a total of 206 indecent images on the defendant’s devices.

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They found 11 hours and 30 minutes of videos, which the prosecutor described as a “significant length”.

The court heard Rowe initially denied responsibility, claiming the images must have been there when he bought the equipment.

He made admissions in a second police interview, accepting he had used the devices himself to view images of child abuse.

Rowe also accepted he had viewed indecent images while on bail.

Defence barrister Richard Ace said his client – who suffers from epilepsy, schizophrenia and depression – no longer uses the internet.

He said: “This is a very serious offence – he acknowledges that.”

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Rowe admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

A report from the Probation Service concluded he presented a high risk of re-offending and a medium risk of causing serious harm to others, including children.

The court heard he told the probation officer he had viewed the images for sexual gratification and described it as “an addiction”.

Recorder Jones said: “Real children get sexually abused in order to provide perverted thrills for people like you. You know as well as I do that demand increases supply.”

Rowe was jailed for eight months. A 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made and his name will remain on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

The judge added: “I have come to the view that this case is so serious I would really not be doing my job properly unless I sent you to prison today.”

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http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/pervert-caught-downloading-child-abuse-12512204