Man Sentenced for Recklessly Sharing Child Abuse Images

A man who sent child abuse images to someone he didn’t know without checking what was in the link has been sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court 📱⚖️

Ryan Birch, 36, formerly known as Michael Morrow from Caerphilly, was caught following a National Crime Agency investigation. He had distributed 33 category A indecent images of children – the most serious type showing victims being raped – along with eight category B and four category C images between March and April 2022.

The defendant pleaded guilty to four counts of distributing indecent images of children on the basis that he had sent them “recklessly”, which prosecutor Paul Hewitt told the court was accepted.

Defence barrister Christopher Evans described his client as a “hard-working and well-educated man” who lost his job as a project manager and now works as a “leaflet distributor” earning £1,200 monthly.

The court heard Birch has no previous convictions and his parents are no longer supportive following his conviction, though his former partner maintains contact and he provides financial support for their two children.

Judge Richard Kember told Birch: “I accept that the remorse you express is genuine.” He added that he believed the defendant was capable of being rehabilitated in the community.

Birch received a two-year prison sentence suspended for 21 months, must complete 200 hours of unpaid work and attend a 20-day rehabilitation programme. He will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years and subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

The defendant, now of Pleasant View, Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taf, must pay £500 costs and a statutory victim surcharge.