Pontypool man sentenced over 585 child abuse images

A Pontypool man has been sentenced after admitting to possessing hundreds of prohibited images of children.

Gregory McGuire, 27, pleaded guilty to two offences committed in Cwmbran between August 2023 and January this year. The case was heard at Newport Magistrates’ Court, where the full extent of his crimes was revealed – he had been caught with 585 prohibited images of children.

McGuire, of Hanbury Road, Pontnewynydd, was handed a 12-month community order and must complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement. The court also imposed a five-year sexual harm prevention order to protect children in the future.

The defendant will have to pay a £114 surcharge and £85 costs.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service’s guidance, prohibited images of children are defined as: “This offence is targeted at non-photographic images including computer-generated images (CGIs), cartoons, manga images and drawings. It criminalises the possession of images of a child which are intimate or depict sexual activity, which are pornographic and also grossly offensive, disgusting or of an obscene character.”