Paedophile sentenced five years after arrest

The delay in bringing Richard Hunter's case to sentencing was described as an "outrage"

A paedophile who amassed an "enormous" collection of child abuse images involving victims as young as four has been given a suspended sentence.

Richard Hunter, a 46-year-old software development engineer from Newcastle, downloaded hundreds of graphic images over a seven-month period, the city's crown court heard.

He made full admissions to police when he was arrested in July 2020, but his case did not reach conclusion in court until Monday. Recorder James Wood KC said the delay, which he did not know the causes of, was an "outrage".

Hunter was jailed for a year suspended for two years after admitting making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornographic materials.

Police seized three devices from Hunter on 15 July 2020 on which they found encrypted folders he had titled with search terms used by online paedophiles, the court heard.

Among his haul were 891 images in the most serious category, 172 at the second level and 713 in the bottom tier, with a further 53 extreme pornographic images including videos of a woman performing a sex act on a horse, the court heard.

'Sex addiction' claim

Hunter also had prohibited images of children, including a cartoon depicting a three-year-old child being raped, the court heard.

They had been collected over the previous seven months with many more child sex images unable to be accessed by detectives due to Hunter's encryption, prosecutors said.

Hunter immediately told police "I know what you are talking about" and "I have been stupid", the court heard.

He claimed he did not have a sexual interest in children but had developed a "sex addiction" fuelled by cocaine use and had sought "extreme stuff", the court heard.

Recorder James Wood KC said, given the "enormous" volume of images, he could "not find it to be right" that Hunter was not sexually attracted to children.

Hunter entered guilty pleas when he appeared at court in February this year and was sentenced on Monday.

Recorder Wood said: "It is an outrage it has taken so long for a man who pleaded guilty in the police station to be brought to court for sentencing."

He added he did not know the reason for the delay, but in that time Hunter, who was of previous good character, had not reoffended and had sought help.

A sexual harm prevention order monitoring Hunter's use of internet enabled devices was made to last for 10 years.