"Bored" Retiree Had Over 10,000 Sick Child Pics

A bored retiree, who started collecting over 10,000 sick images of children on two computers at his suburban home when he stopped working, has escaped prison with a suspended sentence.

Retired senior manager Barry Charles Smith, 63, of Anglesey Gardens, Carshalton had accumulated a collection of hard-core pornography, which also included people engaged in sexual acts with animals.

“He has suffered depression since he retired, lack of sexual fulfilment and boredom,” his lawyer Mr. Lawrence Imrie told Croydon Crown Court.

Smith pleaded guilty at his first appearance to possessing 10,347 indecent images of children ranging from level one to level five – the most serious – on or before July 26, last year.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of extreme pornographic images that were either grossly offensive, disgusting or of an obscene character.

The prosecution accepted the first-time offender's basis of plea that he did not download each individual image and the more extreme examples were not saved or enlarged.

Prosecutor Miss Shahnaz Ahmed told the court police executed a search warrant in an intelligence-led investigation at Smith's home and seized a tower computer and laptop.

A forensic probe of the computers revealed 8,602 images at level one, 261 at level two, 915 at level three, 532 at level four and 44 at level five.

“He made a full admission and said he had been actively viewing images since 2008.”

Since his arrest Smith, who was supported in court by his wife and son, has been co-operating with a charity who monitor his computer usage daily.

“Mr. Smith has shown a deeply significant level of remorse and admitted the offences in interview and took immediate steps to change his behaviour,” explained Mr. Imrie.

“In 2008 he retired from a high-level management role and started viewing pornography and it became an unhealthy obsession.

“Most of the images on Mr. Smith's computers were not even available to him and were only accessible by using specialist equipment.

“They were stored on the hard drive and not known to Mr. Smith.

“He admits going to sites with legal and illegal pornography and the higher level images came by way of an unwanted package.”

The Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon told Smith: “Right thinking members of the public absolutely abhor this activity.”

He sentenced him to eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, and placed him on a two-year supervision order.

A Sexual Offences Prevention Order was made prohibiting Smith using the internet unless all the search history was made and available for police inspection for the next five years.

He must also sign the sex offenders register for seven years.