Taylor walked free from Maidstone Crown Court despite downloading abuse images

by Keith Hunt

A pervert who downloaded child sex abuse images and animal porn from the internet has been spared jail... because he had sought help for his addiction early.

Raymond Taylor stood shame-faced in the dock as a judge told him it had “tipped the balance” away from immediate custody.

The 59-year-old father admitted 15 offences of making indecent photos of a child between 2005 and last year and six of possessing extreme pornographic images showing sex with animals.

He was sentenced to a community order with supervision for three years and he will have to complete a sex offenders’ programme.

Prosecutor Keith Yardy said police went to Taylor’s home in Plain Road, Smeeth, Ashford, on June 24 last year and seized a laptop computer, floppy disks and a memory stick.

About 230 images were discovered. Eighteen of the child abuse images were at the highest level of five.

Taylor was not interviewed until January this year, when he made full admissions.

"he has experienced shame and embarrassment since his arrest." – kerry waitt, defending

“He said he started looking at pornography before going on to the harder stuff. He stated he could not understand what was going on with the images but continued to download them.

“He put them on a memory stick. He said he started looking at the images to sort his head out and had been doing so for about five years.”

Kerry Waitt, defending, said Taylor addressed his problem after his arrest by seeking help.

“This is not a defendant who is window dressing or playing to the gallery,” he told Maidstone Crown Court. “He has experienced shame and embarrassment since his arrest.”

Told that Taylor’s two children had written to the court on his behalf, Judge Michael Carroll said: “I have to say it is slightly ironic to have references come from his own children, when the gravity of these offences is the sexual abuse of children.”

“It is now 18 months since he was arrested,” said Mr Waitt. “He has had to live with the spectre of what may happen today.

"That is part of the punishment, the torture and uncertainty of not knowing what his punishment may be.”

Taylor’s name will appear on the sex offenders’ register for five years and he will be barred form working with children.

Judge Carroll said the offences crossed the custody threshold but he had to have regard to what Taylor had done about his addiction.

“The fact of the matter is he has done something about it in the meantime,” he said. “That has tipped the balance away from immediate custody today.

“Only the future will be able to see if that is the right decision or not.”

The judge said it should not be overlooked that the images showed children being sexually abused.

“However, although according to sentencing guidelines you richly deserve to go to prison, there is considerable mitigation here,” he continued.

“You could go to prison on the child images, you could also go to prison for the extreme pornography offences, which often involve apparent willing females, but looking behind the image there are often elements of coercion involved to produce that kind of filth as well.”

Judge Carroll added: “I don’t think it is in the public interest to send you to prison. I have considerable sympathy that there was a delay here.

“That sometimes encourages a defendant to bury his head in the sand and do nothing and hope everything will turn out right. However, you have sought help.

"That has persuaded me not to send you to prison, even though part of my job is to protect the public.”

The judge warned Taylor if he broke the order 15 months in prison “would be on offer”.