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Wakefield: Child porn was downloaded by bisexual father
A dad who claimed he accidentally downloaded indecent images of children while searching for gay porn on his computer has escaped jail.
Darren Pearson, 40, of Templar Street, Wakefield, hid his bisexual secret from his wife and used the file sharing service Limewire to access X-rated gay material, Leeds Crown Court heard.
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When police raided his home on November 12, 2008, a total of 94 child pornography images were found on his computer, including 61 level three and level four images, among the most serious.
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Prosecuting, Richard Wright said there were also four videos, two at level one and two at level two, but all of the images had been deleted and none had been distributed.
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In police interviews, Pearson claimed he had accidentally downloaded the images while searching for gay porn, but later admitted opening them before deleting them.
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Pearson, who admitted eight counts of making indecent images and one count of possessing indecent images at an earlier hearing, received a three-year community order with supervision.
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The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier, said: "The offences are of course serious because they involve images of children who have been abused.
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"It's apparent from what has been discovered on your computer that this had been going on for some time but compared to other cases, the number of images was comparatively limited."
Richard Canning, mitigating, said Pearson's wife was planning to stand by him for the sake of their family.
He added that Pearson had so far managed to keep his job, but could lose his house if he was sacked.
He said: "The fact of conviction has the most devastating effect, far above and beyond what any court could deal out.
"His family is in turmoil; his son has had to move out of his house. His wife is going to stand by him. They are going to try and stay together for the sake of the children."
Describing his situation as a "knife edge", Mr Canning added: "If his employer finds out, he is confident he will lose his job; his home will be at risk; his family will be at risk."
Pearson must complete a sex offenders programme and sign the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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