Convicted Paedophile Receives Suspended Sentence for Child Image

A convicted paedophile has been given a suspended prison sentence after being found with a cartoon of a naked girl on his phone. IT worker Stephen Massey, 41, had denied downloading the image, but jurors at Newcastle Crown Court found him guilty of possessing a prohibited image of a child. Massey admitted breaching a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and its notification requirements, having failed to inform police that he had acquired a new phone, tablet, and bank card. He was subsequently jailed for 10 months, suspended for two years. Massey, from Gateshead, was previously jailed for one year in 2018 after being found with “a very significant number” of indecent images of children. In December 2022, police visited Massey’s home to inspect his devices, in accordance with the sexual harm prevention order. The court heard that they searched his phone and discovered a cartoon depicting a female in an explicit sexual position, which had been downloaded five days earlier. Prosecutors stated that Massey told officers he did not know how the image had come to be on his phone, before later claiming he had thought the image was of a woman, not a young girl. Several months later, officers visited his home again and found a mobile phone, tablet, and bank card that Massey had not registered with police, placing him in breach of the earlier court orders. Massey, of Marian Drive, in Bill Quay, informed officers that he had not realised he was obliged to register the devices and card, and he apologised to the police. Judge Nathan Adams noted that the jury took less than half an hour to unanimously find Massey guilty of possessing an image of a girl assessed to be aged between nine and 11. The judge stated that Massey’s claim that he didn’t know how the image had come to be found on his phone was “frankly incredible”. He added that if the cartoon had been a photograph, the image would have fallen into the most serious category of indecent images of children, but as it was an illustration, it was deemed to be in the second tier. The judge also said he found it “hard to believe” Massey did not know he was meant to register his phone and tablet with police, leading him to conclude it was a “deliberate breach” on Massey’s part. Judge Adams remarked that Massey was “clearly intelligent”, having gained a degree in computing from the University of Sunderland and worked in IT at Newcastle College for 10 years before his earlier conviction. He said Massey “did not learn” from his previous jail term, which the IT worker received after being found with “a very significant number of images” of children. However, the judge maintained there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and ordered Massey to attend an “intensive” accredited sex offender programme with the probation service. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.