Speen man John Small caught with indecent images of a child

A MAN was caught with indecent images of a vulnerable child on his laptop and phone.

But John Small walked free from court with a suspended sentence.

At a previous hearing the 23-year-old, of Speen Lodge Court, Speen, admitted possessing 31 indecent pseudo-photographs of a child in Category C at Speen on November 30, 2021.

On Wednesday, November 22, he appeared for sentencing at Reading Crown Court.

Kevin West, prosecuting, said: “Police received an anonymous phone call in respect of a girl and allegations suggesting Mr Small was behaving in an inappropriate way towards her.”

Mr West said there had been “significant amounts of contact between them, mainly electronically but also in person”.

Mr Small was arrested and two electronic devices were seized and analysed.

Detectives found 13 indecent images of the girl, who was aged 14 and is described as vulnerable, many showing her topless.

Mr West said that, when told he was being arrested because of the photos, Mr Small remarked: “Is that all?”

He later gave a “no comment” interview.

Josh Bibby, defending, said his client was hitherto a “man of good character” with no previous convictions or cautions.

He added: “There was mention of Mr Small meeting the complainant in person; he is adamant he never met her in person.

“He lives with his nan and has grown up with learning difficulties; he was quite socially isolated growing up.”

Judge Hassan Khan said: “Given his good character and what he has experienced in life, he has difficulty in having real insight into what’s gone on in this situation.

“It seems to me he would benefit from an extended period of supervision and would be suitable for a treatment programme.

“That seems to be the right thing to do in this case.”

Addressing Mr Small, Judge Khan said: “Even though [the girl] said there had been contact between you, there is no evidence of that.

“But she was aged about 14 and she was vulnerable, which is an aggravating feature in this case.

“The custody threshold has been reached; I cannot ignore that this relates to a girl aged 14; you knew full well she was underage and the likelihood is that you requested the images.

“This wasn’t just a download from the internet – this was someone you knew to be a real person and you obtained a number of images from her.”

Judge Khan sentenced Mr Small to four months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He was ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and to complete a course aimed at rehabilitating sexual offenders.

Mr Small was ordered to pay £85 costs, plus a statutory victim services surcharge.

Finally, he was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.