Rotherham pervert downloaded 1,900 illegal images of bestiality & child abuse featuring kids aged 7 to 9

A Rotherham man found with over 1,900 illegal images and videos - featuring humans having sex with animals and child abuse content involving kids as young as seven - claims to have started the 'vile' collection while going through a difficult time in his relationship. 

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Judge Graham Reeds KC told defendant, Jonathan Boon, as he sentenced him for four offences relating to the possession of indecent images of children and extreme pornography. 

Prosecutor, Celine Kart, told Sheffield Crown Court that Boon’s criminality was brought to light after South Yorkshire Police received information that indecent images of children had been accessed, and he was linked to the images. 

Ms Kart told a hearing held on March 25, 2024 that 'officers attended at Boon’s home address' at around 8.48am on October 31, 2022 and seized 'various devices' from him. 

Forensic examination of Boon’s devices revealed that he had downloaded a total of 1,927 illegal images and videos, including 1,403 classed as 'extreme pornography,' the court heard.

Ms Kart said a number of the images and videos showed 'persons having intercourse with live animals'. 

The rest of the illegal content related to indecent images of children, 294 of which were categorised as Class A images, the most serious of the legal categories which is defined as material that shows children being raped.

A further 115 images of Category B, and 114 of Category C were found on Boon’s devices. 

Officers reviewing the images determined the age of the majority of children featured to be between seven and nine-years-of-age, something Ms Kart said prosecutors regarded to be an aggravating feature. 

Another aggravating factor, she suggested, was the fact that Boon, formerly of Goosebutt Street, Parkgate, Rotherham, had downloaded, and stored, the images over a ‘prolonged’ period. 

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Ms Kart said the Crown Prosecution Service was seeking a sexual harm prevention order with a condition that Boon, aged 49, is not allowed any unsupervised contact with any child unless the child’s parent provides consent, after being made aware of his convictions for these sexual offences.

Boon pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images of children, of Categories A, B and C; and one count of possessing extreme pornography at an earlier hearing. 

Defending, Chris Aspinall said Boon was a father to five children between the ages of three and 21; and following discussions with his wife - who attended with him at court - agreed that he would move out of the family home over concerns that his offending could cause problems with social services. 

"He then spent a period of about six months living in his vehicle. It’s a people carrier, and he was sleeping in it, cooking in it, working in it," Mr Aspinall said, adding that Boon, who is a self-employed electrician, had struggled with being able to afford his own accommodation due to being the sole breadwinner in the family. 

Mr Aspinall continued: "All of this stems from difficulties in his relationship, not of his making, from 2019 onwards."

He told the court that Boon had completed and paid for a course to address his offending and seek help, and is now willing to complete any course the court suggests he undertake. 

Judge Reeds sentenced Boon - who he described as having an 'obvious sexual interest in children' - to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, after determining he believed there to be a 'realistic prospect of rehabilitation with the right help'. 

Ordering Boon to complete 43 sessions of a sex offenders’ treatment programme and a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement, Judge Reeds told him: "These are vile images which cause exploitation of children all over the world; and you, in part, create a market for the exploitation by downloading and viewing these images."

Judge Reeds granted the sexual harm prevention order, which will remain in place for 10 years, but said he did not believe the condition concerning unsupervised contact with children to be 'necessary' because he was being sentenced for 'non-contact offences'. 

Judge Reeds warned Boon, however, that if he is proven wrong and Boon does go on to commit 'contact' offences, he will be sent to prison. 

Boon will also be required to sign on to the sex offenders’ register for the next 10 years.