A paedophile who was caught with vile child abuse images had been searching for material involving toddlers online.
Gergely Sumegi was caught with indecent images and videos which depicted children as young as eight-years-old when police went to his County Durham home on September 30, 2020. The 41-year-old's laptop was also analysed and police discovered he had been using a Tor browser to conceal his online activity and had searched for images depicting "babies and toddlers".
Sumegi, of Boston Street, Easington Colliery, near Peterlee, appeared at Durham Crown Court to be sentenced for making indecent images between 2015 and 2020.
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Dr Christopher Wood, prosecuting, said after police searched his home his laptop was seized and analysed and was found to include "deliberate searches for young children". One category B image involving a nine-year-old was found, along with a category A image involving an eight-year-old and one category A video depicting a child which lasted 13 minutes long. Dr Wood said: "The defendant had also been on peer to peer sites indicative of child abuse, confirming he had been searching for images including babies and toddlers." Sumegi, who had no previous convictions, gave a no comment interview to police.
Jonathan Cousins, defending, accepted the custodial threshold had been passed and said he had remained out of trouble since the offences came to light. He said there was a "realistic prospect of rehabilitation" and urged the judge to suspend any custodial sentence. He added: "His wife is in extremely poor health and relies on him for full support. They are both Hungarian and a custodial sentence would have a significant harmful impact on her. The best way to punish him would be through unpaid work."
Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, handed Sumegi a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 180 hours unpaid work. He must also complete 30 rehabilitation days and pay £425 costs. A 10 year sexual harm prevention order was also made and Sumegi will be on the sex offender's register for 10 years.
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