Sheffield man who downloaded indecent images of children is spared jail

Sheffield Crown Court heard on November 30 how Gavin Roper, aged 40, of City Road, Sheffield, was caught by police with four category A indecent images and two category C indecent images, with category A being the most serious.

Aaron Dinnes, prosecuting, said police received information the defendant had been accessing indecent images of children and they attended his home in October, 2019, executed a search warrant and seized devices including a mobile phone.

Judge Graham Reeds QC told Roper: “In this case you have pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to making indecent images by downloading them from the internet.”

Mr Dinnes added that an analysis of Roper’s mobile phone revealed four category A images and two category C images depicting youngsters aged between three and 14 years old.

Roper told police he used Twitter to access pornography and he claimed had not specifically searched for these images but might have downloaded them by accident and had then deleted them.

The defendant, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent images relating to the category A and C indecent images.

Judge Reeds QC, who acknowledged Roper’s remorse and regret, sentenced him to six months of custody suspended for 12 months. Roper has also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and he was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period.