A Croydon chauffeur, who downloaded 4,236 stills and moving images of children aged seven to twelve being sexually abused, has lost his family and his liberty.
First-time offender Peter Stokoe, 56, of Warren Avenue was raided by officers from the Met’s Paedophile Unit who seized a quantity of laptops and computers from his home.
He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court (pictured) to fifteen sample charges of making indecent images from online file-sharing and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.
Prosecutor Miss Usha Shergill told the court police, also assisted by officers from the Clubs and Vice Unit, executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home on January 20.
“An investigation by the Paedophile Unit had identified Stokoe as a downloader of a significant number of child abuse videos,” explained the prosecutor.
As a result Stokoe’s third wife has left him and his eldest daughter, who has four of the defendant’s grandchildren, refuses to have any further contact with her father.
“The images were of an extremely disturbing and graphic nature,” added Miss Shergill, telling the court the investigating officer, who has spent five years in the field, found them the worst examples he had ever seen.
When quizzed by police Stokoe initially only admitted looking at pop-up’s sent to his computer without consent, but then admitted downloading child pornography.
The moving images and pictures depict under-age boys and girls involved in sexual activity with adults, sometimes including bondage.
Stokoe’s lawyer Mr. Howard Jones told the court: “His eldest daughter has made it clear she no longer wishes to have ant contact with him at all. He is suffering real consequences of his offending.
“He downloaded multiple images in one click. His interest is in teenage girls.
“He got into something that became a habit and then an obsession,” added Mr. Jones. “He is not a manipulative paedophile and come into this late in life, in his fifties.
“He was shocked to discover in the police interview how serious this was.
“Prison is going to be a culture shock to him. It’s is likely he will have to be on a protective wing.”
Judge Peter Testar told Stokoe, who has also served in the Royal Navy: “I’m afraid it must be a custodial sentence.
“When children are subjected to the most appalling abuse, which is depicted in these images, they are going to suffer for the rest of their lives.
“The reason these images are made in the first place is so they can be passed on for others to see. People who are downloading these images are fuelling the market.
“The children are very young and are children who are really suffering quite considerably as a result of what is being done to them,” added the Judge.
Stokoe was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years and was made subject to a sexual offences protection order for five years, which limits his ability to offend in a similar way on release.
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