GROVE: CLERK SPARED JAIL OVER PORN FILMS

An insurance clerk who downloaded hundreds of ‘sado masochistic’ child porn films and images was spared jail today (thurs).

Thomas Grove, 20, was caught with more than 400 indecent pictures and movies, including three films and six stills graded at ‘level 5’ – depicting sadism or bestiality.

Among the images were 106 at ‘level 4’ in which children as young as three-years-old were shown having penetrative sex with adults.

He was caught after officers raided the home he shares with his mother and discovered the cache of child porn on his laptop.

Grove claimed he had resorted to downloading the images and movies as a form of ‘escapism’ and because he had been able to move on from a relationship he had as a 13-year-old boy.

Judge Jeffrey Pegden said: ‘These offences are very serious indeed and that is because there are a significant number of images at levels four and five, in fact, in the case of the level four images some 40 per cent of the material was at that level and that is a significant percentage in my judgement.

‘That’s very serious because these images involve the sadomasochistic abuse of children.

‘In the case of the level five images the youngest children were nine-years-old and in the case of level four some of the children were at the extremely tender age of three.

‘The damage that sadomasochistic abuse causes children of such a tender age can never be understated.’

Prosecutor Usha Shergill said police acting on a tip-off raided Grove’s home in February.

‘He was present at the address when the warrant was carried out and he was informed that the reason officers were there was because they had reason to believe he was responsible for downloading indecent images of children,’ she said.

‘Mr Grove’s almost immediately admitted to officers that he was responsible for that and said he done that on his laptop.’

Ms Shergill told the court that in interview Grove attempted to justify his sexual desires.

He said: ‘He admitted that he did have a sexual interest in girls aged 12 to 16-years-old and this was put down to he himself being involved in a relationship at a young age and he said he had found it difficult to move on from that.’

Gwen Williamson, defending, said Grove had sought ‘escapism’ because his mother had been unwell and ‘she was not paying attention to him’.

Grove, of (11) Beulah Road, Hornchurch, Essex, admitted 16 counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of possessing extreme pornography.

He was sentenced to six months detention concurrently on each count suspended for 18 months and ordered to attend an internet sex offender treatment programme.

His name will be placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.
ENDS