Leeds salesman traded abuse images and discussed rape, then claimed to have no interest in children

Colin Carmichael then claimed he had no sexual interest in children when police caught up with him, despite discussing raping a girl with another online pervert.

Officers had initially been alerted to two images being uploaded the the web from his mobile phone, so went to his home to seize his devices.

They found 81 Category A images and videos – the most serious – along with 49 Category B and 61 Category C, as well as 19 extreme pornographic images involving people having sex with dogs and horses.

Videos found on his phone described to Leeds Crown Court said some involved girls aged between two and five being raped.

He had also distributed eight Category A and one Category B image. He told one recipient that he bought abuse images online and wanted to share them with like-minded people online. He also discussed having sex with a girl.

Prosecutor John Hobley said the offending took place between July 2020 and November 2021. He attended a voluntary interview by police but gave no comments.

Carmichael, of Dalton Road, Beeston, later admitted three counts of downloading indecent images, two counts of distributing, and one of possessing extreme images.

Mitigating, Vincent Blake-Barnard said Carmichael has just one previous conviction for a driving offence. He said he was a salesman who worked in franchises and had helped grow a company from 20 employees to 143.

He said that his phone had been hacked and looked at an illegal website and “drifted into the rabbit hole of this offending”.

He said there was no suggestion Carmichael had abused a girl himself, that he was simply “ingratiating himself” with others online, to which the judge, Recorder Keir Monteith KC, quickly retorted that he he found it “hard to comprehend”.

Recorder Monteith pointed out that he had also had a year to find help for his problem, but had done nothing.

He also questioned Carmichael’s claim that he had no sexual interest in children. He said: “This case causes me concern. I do not need to expand on how disgusting, worrying and concerning this is on so many different levels.

"I find it difficult to comprehend how it was done to ingratiate yourself with others. When asked about your interest, you said there was no sexual gratification. I find that hard to believe. This is a seriously aggravating feature.

"You say you were a victim of sexual abuse when you were 14, but that cuts both ways. I’m sorry to hear that but a victim, experiencing what you have, why would you want to perpetuate that?”

He gave Carmichael two years’ jail, and told him: “It’s just too serious. You crossed several red lines and it’s just too much to be suspended.”

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) which will limit his internet use.