Man who had 17,000 child abuse images jailed

Lucas Banton was found to have nearly 17,000 indecent images, more than 200 of which were graded as Category A.

A man found with 17,000 indecent images of children has been jailed.

Lucas Banton, 23, came to the attention of Nottinghamshire Police when an email address linked to him was used to upload two indecent videos of children to the internet.

Officers went to his home in February 2023 and seized two electronic devices for forensic examination, which uncovered 60 images and videos depicting the most serious sexual offences that can be committed by adults against children.

Subsequent investigations found 17,000 further indecent images on his mobile phone and he was jailed for 33 months at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of children.

'Stolen childhoods'

Banton, of Byron Street, Daybrook, also admitted one count of assault on an emergency worker.

Det Con Peter Chappell, from Nottinghamshire Police's internet child exploitation team, said: "Behind every one of these images is a real child somewhere in the world who has endured the most appalling sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

"Each has had their childhood stolen from them and each will live with the life-long physical and emotional impact of what has happened to them.

"People like Banton may not be committing this abuse themselves, but they are directly contributing to this suffering by consuming this appalling material.

"As Banton has just found out to his cost, the end result of this behaviour is very likely to be a prison sentence, so I hope this case serves as a warning to others who may be thinking of searching for such material."