Sheffield man downloaded child porn after spiral into hard drugs

Jack Adams' home was raided in the early hours of August 8, 2018, and he told officers: "I don't mind telling you there's a lap top with stuff on it."

His computers were seized and 46 Category A images, 18 Category B images and 16 Category C images, where Category A is the most extreme, as well as 23 extreme porn images were revealed, said prosecutor Gurdial Singh.

He deliberately searched for the images on sites such as "Lolita" and "Teen Incest", and used Tor browsers to conceal his internet address.

"He said he would continue to look, even when the children were visibly upset and he was ashamed," Mr Singh added.

Some of the children were as young as six years old, Sheffield Crown Court heard on Friday.

Katy Rafter, mitigating, said Adams, of previous good character, made early guilty pleas was genuinely remorseful and has been having psychotherapy.

"He has taken steps to address his offending behaviour,” she said. “He hasn't tried to hide what he was doing once the police caught up with him.

"He installed the Tor browsers so he could purchase drugs. This was a young man with his whole life ahead of him. He had an excellent academic record and a very good job in London."

But Adams suffered from depression and turned to harder drugs, she said, becoming jobless, homeless, and heavily in debt.

"His work computers have internet usage monitored in any event," she added. "The Tor browsers simply won't work on them. It's unnecessary for the prohibitions to apply to his work devices."

But Judge Sarah Wright said there would be no loophole in the Sexual Harm Prevention Order she would impose.

Adams, 33, of St Mary's Road, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornograpghic images, on November 6.

Judge Wright imposed a two-year community order, with 40 rehabilitation days and 40 sessions of a treatment programme. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made and he was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

Thank you to all who support local journalism with a digital or print subscription to The Star. The events of 2020 mean trusted, local journalism is more reliant than ever on your support. We couldn't do it without you. Subscribe here so we can keep campaigning on your behalf. Stay safe.