A paedophile found in possession of video of babies being raped fell to his knees and wept when the police turned up at his door. He told an officer that he was a "horrible person" after more than 1,000 indecent images of children were discovered on various devices.
Desmond Wright, 38, of Pontypridd, was arrested at his home on May 31 after South Wales Police received intelligence that child abuse material had been uploaded to a file-sharing site. Some of the material was linked to the defendant's address in Garth Avenue, Glyncoch, and officers attended his home at 7am.
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court heard Wright answered the door and allowed the officers into his house but following his arrest he went down on his knees and began crying. When one of the officers spoke to him calmly he said: "Stop talking to me being nice – I'm a horrible person."
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Prosecutor John Ryan said a number of electronic devices were seized and the defendant was taken into custody. During his interview he said he could connect to servers and search for and download child abuse images. He said he had "tried to stop himself" several times and when asked what he viewed he said: "Don't want to say."
Wright described himself as a "hebephile" and was attracted to "pubescent children" aged between 13 and 15 years old. But when a Samsung phone and various hard drives were examined videos were discovered of a baby between zero and two years old being raped.
Mr Ryan said the defendant was found in possession of 194 category A images, 211 category B images, and 1,108 category C images. He was also found in possession of five extreme images depicting women having sexual activity with dogs and 68 computer-generated images of child abuse. A total of 42,109 files had been downloaded but officers stopped their examination once the threshold for charges had been met.
Wright also made internet searches for "dead", "necrophilia", and "gore flicks". He pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images and possessing extreme images. The court heard he had previous convictions for possession of indecent images for which he was sentenced to a community order.
In mitigation Tim Evans said his client was living on his own and appeared to have had a "solitary existence" since leaving school aged 16. He described the defendant "dissolving into a mattress on the floor" upon the police arriving at his home. He said Wright was suffering from "serious depression" and was an "addict of this dreadful material". As a result of his offending he has lost his accommodation and his employment.
Sentencing, Recorder Dyfed Thomas said: "These are not just images – they're real children being subjected to sexual offences and real harm and stress. You saw them for your own sexual gratification. If it were not for people like you the demand for [these images] wouldn't be there."
Wright was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.
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