A print worker with a ‘sick obsession’ for child p

A print worker with a ‘sick obsession’ for child pornography was jailed for nine months after he was caught with vile pictures of children as young as four.

Bosses twice caught John Skeet, 44, downloading sex pictures from the internet but he was only given verbal warnings.

The police were finally called in when a disgusting story entitled ‘Fun With My Little Niece’ dropped from Skeet’s pocket.

Skeet, regarded as a ‘trusted employee’ had downloaded and printed 153 images at his workplace, which he took home and stored in a briefcase in his
kitchen.

Polly-Anne Comfort, prosecuting, said Skeet was sacked on the spot from his Kings Cross firm when the story about a five-year-old girl dropped to the floor on August 2 last year.

In an extraordinary explanation, Skeet told police: ‘I didn’t know what I was printing off,’ Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court heard.

‘I went downstairs to get rid of it, and it fell through my trouser pocket.

‘

He then showed the officers a hole in his slacks.

A search of his own flat uncovered the revolting cache of pictures of mainly pre-pubescent youngsters, including the rape of a child.

Grilled by detectives as to his motives, Skeet said: ‘I don’t know,’ insisting he had no sexual interest in children.

He claimed he had also intended to get rid of his abhorrent picture file – but never got round to it.

David Newberry, defending, said Skeet’s wife and eight-year-old child had been rehoused by Social Services and were told not to have contact with him.

He was also estranged from his 20-year-old adopted son.

Judge Henry Blacksell QC, told him: ‘Mr Skeet, you are well aware of the serious nature of this sort of offending and how it is regarded quite rightly by the general public as being abhorrent.

‘Sadly the court is well aware that this material is accessible through the internet, and I am also aware of the obsessional nature that arises in people interested in this sort of material being able to access it.

‘It seems to me an aggravating feature which distinguishes your case from some others is you were on two occasions warned by your employers about
this and you were unable to resist continuing.

‘It is your own sick mind that meant you wanted to keep these pictures and I’m afraid you’ll have to pay a heavy price for it.

‘

Judge Blacksell said he bore in mind Skeet pleaded guilty and there was no evidence he distributed the pictures for gain.

But he added: ‘My function is also to protect those children who are abused in this way.

‘The only incentive for sick people who put it on the internet it that people like you will download it, so a custodial sentence it will be.

‘

Skeet, of Kelson House, Johnsons Way, the Isle of Dogs, was given concurrent sentences of nine months for each of five counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

ends