Halkyn Man Avoids Jail Despite 155,000 Child Abuse Images

A man caught with more than 155,000 indecent images of children has been spared immediate imprisonment. 📱

Peter Rathbone, 55, of Halkyn, appeared at Mold Crown Court on Thursday where he received a 21-month jail term suspended for two years for making indecent images of children.

His Honour Judge Rhys Rowlands said the defendant had done everything he could to prevent future offending, so “not without some misgivings” he could suspend the jail term.

The court heard police acting on intelligence searched Rathbone’s home on 26th October 2023. They seized four devices, and Rathbone admitted making indecent images of children and possession of an extreme pornographic image featuring a live animal.

Officers found 739 images and eight videos in the most serious category A. More than 860 images were in category B and 5,700 in category C. Ms Price told the court most showed girls aged four to twelve.

“Some appeared to be in discomfort,” she added. The prosecution noted there were 155,000 more images of child sex abuse which had not been categorised.

Rachel Faux, defending Rathbone, invited the court to suspend his jail sentence, saying: “He stands before you with his prison bag packed terrified that he’s going into immediate custody.”

She argued he had not distributed the images and it had been a “thoroughly unsophisticated episode of behaviour” that occurred during a time of “increased stress, addictive behaviour, isolation and desensitisation to illegal pornography (which) descended into the offences that are accepted by him”.

Rathbone has resigned from his £65,000-a-year job, which required security clearance, due to this conviction. He has also consulted a psychotherapist, the Samaritans and the Stop It Now – Lucy Faithfull organisation’s helpline, and installed software on his devices blocking illegal searches.

In addition to the suspended sentence, the judge ordered Rathbone to pay a £3,000 fine, £150 costs and complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity. He must also go onto the sex offender’s register and keep to a sexual harm prevention order, both for ten years. ⚖️