Hartlepool pervert who had 1,600 indecent pictures of children 'relieved to be caught'

David Stonehouse, 48, trawled the internet for around 10 years looking for and downloading pictures of girls aged between 10 and 12 years old.

Police discovered 1,600 indecent images on his Acer laptop computer when they turned up at his door and searched his house on August 6 last year.

Jane Foley, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said: “In interview following his arrest the defendant was candid in explaining he had been downloading the indecent images for about 10 years and that he had a particular interest in girls aged between 10 and 12.

"He said he would regularly search for pre-teen images and would gain sexual gratification from viewing the indecent material which led to feelings of guilt.”

Stonehouse said he would often delete images after he had viewed them.

In total he had 157 in the category for the most serious kinds of abuse against children, 277 in the next category and 1,166 in the bottom category.

Ms Foley said children as young five and six featured in the images in Stonehouse’s possession.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children between March 2013 and August of last year before magistrates.

Rod Hunt, defending, said in mitigation, Stonehouse had been extremely honest with the police about what he had done.

He said: “It’s unusual for a defendant to cooperate so readily with the police.

"One perhaps reads between the lines and gleans a sense of relief on the part of this defendant that this has actually been caught out and brought into the open.

"He’s now free of this addiction.”

Mr Hunt said Stonehouse, of Percy Street, Hartlepool, had been a research chemist and became a taxi driver when work dried up.

He has a history of loneliness and depression but has sought help to rehabilitate himself.

Stonehouse was made the subject of a community order for 18 months and five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order to manage his internet use.

He must also notify the police where he is living for the next five years and do 20 probation rehabilitation days.

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