Ipswich man Christopher Welham who made indecent photos and videos of children spared jail
An Ipswich man who made indecent photographs and videos of children has avoided jail.
Christopher Welham, of St George's Street, was handed a sentence of three months imprisonment suspended for two years when he appeared before Ipswich Crown Court today.
The 56 year old pleaded guilty to four counts of making indecent photos and being in possession of prohibited images at an earlier hearing on April 16.
Welham was found out in January 2019 when police seized his mobile phone, on which the images were found, during an investigation into a separate offence of harassment.
He was subsequently summonsed to court and charged with four offences, all of which took place on or before November 1, 2019. These were:
- Making indecent photographs of a child, namely 28 images and 51 videos under category A
- Making indecent photographs of a child, namely 34 images and 49 videos under category B
- Making indecent photographs of a child, namely 1,333 images and 21 videos under category C
- Being in possession of 40 prohibited images and 15 prohibited videos of a child
DC Leia Dowsing, investigating officer, said: "When this offending first came to light Welham at first denied downloading them and couldn’t explain how they were found on his phone. However, the weight of evidence against him ultimately led to his guilty plea.
"Internet crimes such as these are far from victimless and every image depicts the very real abuse a young child has suffered.
"We will do everything within our power to protect victims who are subjected to these potentially life changing acts of indecency purely for the gratification of others.”
Welham was ordered to take part in a rehabilitation activity programme and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and ordered to pay costs of £460.
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