Convicted Leeds pimp who once 'sold boy' released from prison despite distributing child-abuse image
A known sex offender who was caught distributing a child-abuse image has been freed from custody because of time already served, despite the judge telling he “richly deserved” prison.
Nathan Eyre, who was once jailed for pimping out a 14-year-old boy, was handed a suspended sentence for his latest offending after the judge said he would have been released imminently if given an immediate sentence.
Leeds Crown Court heard that the National Crime Agency had been alerted to an Instagram account run by the 59-year-old that had sent out an indecent image in November of last year.
It was classified as Category C image - a child laid naked on a bed.
Officers attended Eyre’s home on Broadlea Terrace, Bramley, on January 25, arrested him and seized his internet devices.
Following an investigation, officers found a further 345 Category C images, and eight Category A that depict the most serious sexual assaults of children.
They found relevant searches for pictures, including “school gymnast boys”, and online chats involving Eyre posing as a child himself and engaging in “sexually-explicit exchanges”.
During his interview he denied that he had viewed the Category A images on his phone and pretending to be a young boy online. He claimed it may have been male prostitutes he had previously known intending to blackmail him.
Eyre appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds where he was being held on remand. He admitted one charge of distributing an image of a child and two counts of making indecent images of Category A and C.
Little mitigation was offered by his barrister after the judge, Recorder Jamie Hill KC, said his hands were tied by sentencing guidelines.
He said that a 12-month jail sentence would be the maximum he could impose, but because Eyre had been on remand for six months, he would be freed immediately given that most offenders serve half of their sentence behind bars and the remainder on licence.
He told Eyre that he “richly deserved” an immediate sentence. He made reference to a difficult childhood upbringing for Eyre, but no further details were disclosed.
He told him: “Some would say with your record, you deserve to go straight to prison.”
He gave him a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, with 30 rehabilitation days with probation.
Eyre was put on the sex offender register for 10 years and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to help curb his internet use.
Eyre was jailed for eight years in 2005 after admitting a string of sex offences after he “sold” a boy he had groomed to a paedophile ring. The deal was struck during a meeting at a McDonald’s restaurant.
London's Criminal Appeal Court later increased Eyre’s sentence to one of 11 years after the original sentence was deemed to be “unduly lenient”.