'Wicked' Wakefield paedophile sent child-abuse images to official offices, leaving woman 'repulsed'
A self-confessed paedophile sent sickening abuse images in emails to local organisations, leaving one innocent recipient needing therapy.
Paranoid schizophrenic Ben Bond sent the emails to a local government office and a health care service that contained a mixture of images including those deemed to be Category A - the most serious kind involving the rape of children.
Leeds Crown Court heard it was a “cry for help” from Bond, but it had a devastating effect on one woman who opened the email and saw the images.
In a victim impact statement, read out to the court by prosecutor Beth Richardson, the woman said the incident had “changed her life”.
She said she was “repulsed”, suffers from flashbacks and added: “The psychological damage is immense.”
The police had been contacted in May 2022 about the two emails Bond had sent.
The 29-year-old was arrested and two mobile phones and a tablet were seized.
More than 1,179 images and videos were found, in Category A, B and C and involving children as young as four being abused.
Bond, of Sycamore Court, Crofton, had several interviews with police, providing no comments, but eventually gave a prepared statement in which he claimed his paranoid schizophrenia meant he was not in control.
He admitted three offences of making indecent images and eight counts of distributing images. He has no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Rhianydd Clement said: “He has been very frank. He accepts he has a sexual interest in children and wants help.”
She said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17 and was “going through a significant mental health episode” at the time.
She added: “His behaviour was very erratic. He was having visual and auditory hallucinations. It was a cry for help. It was not targeted.”
The judge, Recorder Mark McKone KC said Bond’s actions had a “huge impact” on the worker.
He said: “It was a totally irrational thing to do and a wicked thing to do.”
He gave Bond a 16-month jail sentence, suspended for two years and ordered him to complete 30 rehabilitation days with probation.
He was put on the sex offender register for 10 years, and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to curb his internet use.
Recorder McKone told him that should be breach the order, he “would not get a second chance”.