Belfast man gaoled for possession of child abuse images
The BBC reports that a Belfast man has been gaoled for possession of images of child abuse. He was caught with 932 still photographs and 51 movie files of child abuse on his computer. The court was told he also fantasised on internet chatrooms about killing children.
Section 45 to 51 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 deal with indecent photography of children (including those aged 16 or 17, paying for the sexual services of a child, controlling a child prostitute or a child involved in pornography.
The taking of indecent photographs of children has long been the subject of statutory prohibition. The arrival of the internet has arguably made it easier for the police to catch offenders. This particular offender appears to have been caught after police monitored a chatroom.
The first acts to deal with “obscene publications” which arguably included child pornography was the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (amended in 1964). However it was not until the Protection of Children Act 1978 that there was a statute dedicated to this problem.
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