Swansea Crown Court (Image: Leighton Collins / Alamy)
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A man who used specialist software to covertly record young girls during video chats and amassed thousands of indecent images of children has been given a suspended prison sentence.
Corey Goldup, 28, of Heol y Llwynau, Trebanos, was told by a judge at Swansea Crown Court that he was “very fortunate” and would not be getting “a second chance.”
Sentencing
Goldup had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of taking indecent images, three counts of making indecent images, three counts of distributing indecent images, and possession of extreme pornography. He has no previous convictions.
He was sentenced to two years and four months in prison suspended for three years, ordered to complete a rehabilitation course, and told to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community. He will be a registered sex offender for 10 years and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.
Judge Paul Thomas KC told Goldup that three factors had saved him from immediate custody – delays in the case reaching court, the Crown Prosecution Service’s charging decisions, and a change in the law which came into effect in March allowing sentences of up to three years to be suspended rather than the previous limit of two years.
Releasing Goldup from the dock, the judge said: “If this had come to court a month ago, you would be starting a substantial prison sentence.
“Let me make this very clear to you: you have been very fortunate in the way the court has proceeded. You will not be getting a second chance.”
The offending
Prosecutor Alycia Carpanini told the court that Goldup had installed specialist software on his phone to secretly record video chats and other communications on Snapchat, Kik, and Instagram with young females without their knowledge.
Police identified five of his victims, including a female in Ireland and a girl in her mid teens whom the defendant recorded performing sex acts on herself.
Goldup was also a member of a group chat on the Discord app entitled “12 and under jailbait” where child abuse images were shared and exchanged.
Officers recovered a recording of the defendant’s own phone screen showing him scrolling through his collection of indecent images before selecting one.
In total, police found 980 indecent pictures and videos at category A – the most serious kind of child sexual abuse including rape – along with 160 category B images, 1,911 category C images, and 39 images of bestiality and other extreme pornography.
The investigation
The court heard that officers first attended Goldup’s home in June 2022 after receiving information that he possessed indecent images. When told why they were there, Goldup said: “There will be things on there – girls of legal age in this country.”
An examination of his phone uncovered indecent images stored in a hidden folder alongside his involvement in the Discord group chat.
In interviews conducted in both 2022 and 2024, Goldup answered “no comment” to all questions put to him.
Ms Carpanini noted it was not clear to her why the defendant had not also been charged with sexual communications offences.
Continued offending on bail
Following the full examination of his devices, Goldup was arrested again in February 2024. A check of further devices revealed he had continued to download images of child sexual abuse while on bail.
Judge Thomas told the defendant that the children in the pictures and videos he collected were real children somewhere in the world being horribly abused, and said it was of concern that he had continued to offend after his initial arrest.
Defence
Andrew Evans, representing Goldup, said the defendant plainly has a sexual interest in children – something he was beginning to accept and needed to fully address. He said his client had expressed “disgust” over his actions and knows he has brought shame upon himself and his family.
Mr Evans argued that sending the defendant into custody would place him in an environment surrounded by offenders who would “reinforce unhealthy – to say the least – desires.”
Judge Thomas said that over a six-year period Goldup had involved himself in the large-scale making, possessing, and distributing of indecent images.
