A paedophile was caught with nearly 8,000 sick images of children and even disturbing “fiction” about a character named after him.
Ray Robinson, 75, of Warren Croft, Norton, Runcorn, was sentenced on Thursday at Chester Crown Court sitting at magistrates' court, where prosecutor Sarah Badrawy told how police discovered the vile stash after executing a search warrant at around 6.50am on October 15, 2021. Officers seized hard drives, a laptop, desktop computer and recordable CDs.
Forensic examination of the devices uncovered a horrific collection of 7,879 indecent images of children, comprising 173 of the worst kind in Category A, 481 at Category B, and 7,225 in Category C, including some video clips and amassed over more than a decade between September 2008 and December 2020. Robinson was arrested.
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Ms Badrawy said some of the files included “paedophile fiction” featuring a character called “Ray” - combined with another name - as well as disturbing file names.
Robinson’s Category A images featured female and male victims between the ages of seven and 15 years, then victims aged from five to 14 years in Category B, and five to eight years in Category C.
They included videos and one in which the victim could be “heard to cry out in pain”. The prosecutor said peer-to-peer software was also discovered.
In interview with officers from Cheshire Police, Robinson confirmed some details but answered “no comment” to other questions.
He pleaded guilty in December last year to possessing prohibited images of children, possessing indecent images of children, and three counts of making indecent images of children spanning Categories A-C.
Ms Badrawy said Robinson has no previous convictions, but the charges were aggravated by the size of the collection and the time span, moving images, a large number of victims, and “discernible pain or distress”.
She said the lead offence of making Category A images had a sentencing range of 26 weeks to three years with a starting point of one year.
Tom Challinor, defending, said Robinson pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, adding although there was a “suggestion of peer-to-peer file sharing, I make it plain to the record in this case Mr Robinson denies there was any distribution”.
He said there was “considerable remorse and regret” and Robinson had sought “help and therapy” from abuse prevention charity Lucy Faithfull Foundation - prompting Judge Michael Leeming to retort: “We hear about the Lucy Faithfull Foundation in almost every case, the defendant self-refers.”
Judge Leeming speculated that “solicitors are telling defendants this is what they should do in the hope it generates some mitigation”, adding would-be downloaders of indecent images should “contact the Lucy Faithfull Foundation before embarking on offending like this.”
Mr Challinor said the “trigger” for Robinson’s sick collection was the illness and death of his ex-wife from cancer, but conceded this was “no excuse”.
He said Robinson said he’s had a “good life” and been “successful in business” though now “feels as though he’s effectively ruined his life”, adding the defendant’s two sons had “disowned him” and barred access to younger relatives.
He added Robinson also had care duties, was frightened of prison and was in poor health having had a stent fitted and been diagnosed with lymphoma.
Judge Leeming sentenced Robinson to 14 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement and statutory surcharge, plus 10 years on the sex offenders register and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
He rubbished Robinson’s denial of having a “sexual interest in children”.
The judge said the 75-year-old had avoided an immediate custodial sentence by “the skin of your teeth” due to the perceived “realistic prospect of rehabilitation” and other mitigation but warned a breach would land him back in the dock.
Judge Leeming reminded Robinson of the cruel impact of abuse images.
He said: “That sexual abuse is taking place somewhere in the world where those images are taken and every time someone downloads an image that child is revictimised and that child is aware someone somewhere is gaining sexual gratification looking at them in this situation, and you have to take your share of responsibility for that.”
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