Sheffield Crown Court: Pervert who merged prohibited images of children into a computer game has been jailed

Craig Robinson, aged 34, of Nidderdale Road, in Wingfield, Rotherham, had already been convicted in 2017 for possessing prohibited images and making indecent images of children, and he had been made subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, according to a Sheffield Crown Court hearing.

But prosecuting barrister Anthony Dunne told the hearing on November 10 that during a routine check Robinson was found to have downloaded a modification which allowed characters in a computer game to be given genitalia and engage in sexual activity, and 205 prohibited images of children were found on a device.

Mr Dunne said: “He accepted he had downloaded images from the internet and accepted he downloaded a modification so he could create child characters with genitalia and so they could engage in sexual activity.”

Robinson was given a conditional caution but after he failed a polygraph lie-detector test further digital devices were examined in January and 219 prohibited images of children were found on one device, according to Mr Dunne, and in August a further tablet device was found to have 80 prohibited images of youngsters and two indecent images of children.

Mr Dunne added: “He said he was visiting a website and could download images and he had admitted searching websites with prohibited material. He made full admissions on the later offences and said he had downloaded images in order to masturbate to them.”

Robinson pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing prohibited images of children and to one count of making category C indecent images of a child, with category C being the least serious type of indecent image.

Defence barrister Chris Aspinall said Robinson accepts he fell back into accessing these kind of images but he has been honest about his offending and he has requested help to suppress his desires. Mr Aspinall said: “He has never thought about targeting anybody outside of the artificial structure with which he engages with on the internet.”

He also stressed that Robinson was not found with the far more serious category A and B indecent images and he is not a man suspected of contacting children or teenagers.

Mr Aspinall added that Robinson has requested medical intervention and has expressed a desire to take his own life and the principle reason for that is because he cannot see an end to this ‘cycle of offending’.

Judge Peter Kelson KC told Robinson: “You appear to have some self-awareness to know of your problems and you keep saying you want help with that problem but from society’s point of view it has done all it can do to help you with your self-awareness problem.”

He sentenced Robinson to 15 months of custody and ordered that the defendant be made subject to a new, ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order so his activities can continue to be monitored and restricted.