"The offences merit custody but any sentence I impose would inevitably be short and frankly serve little or no useful purpose. But the references make it plain this behaviour came as a shock to those who know you and you have many good qualities.
"You have been named and shamed in the press and I have sympathy for the innocent victims of this, your wife and daughter. "I think the risk of re-offending in your case is low. These are real children being abused, sometimes irreparably damaged and those who access this sort of material encourage those who perpetrate the abuse. She and your daughter remain supportive of you and you are fortunate. It must have come as an enormous shock to her. "You are a mature man and it seems you kept your behaviour from your wife's attention. You maintain that your interest was in males 16 or over but the images found in this case certainly covered children significantly younger than that. "You accept having an interest over a significant time in gay pornography and you describe it as becoming an addiction. "The images on the iPod were largely accessible and they included photos of pre and post-pubescent male children. "The police seized items from your home and they found indecent images of children on a tower computer and an iPod touch. You were arrested in December 2019, getting on for two years ago, and the delay is not your fault. Judge Paul Glenn said: "You are 66 and prior to these matters of impeccable character. Not signed up to the newsletter? Try it out here 'Long queues, dirty tables and overpriced' - Your reviews of Wheelock Hall Farm
Victory! You can now park for free on 'Stoke-on-Trent’s most-hated car park' Stoke-on-Trent dad-of-10's threat to murder rival family as sons start fight outside pubīurslem's iconic Red Lion pub back open after nine-year hiatus with familiar faces propping up bar He added that Bales, who has no previous convictions, had kept out of trouble since his arrest and has engaged with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.
Robert Holt, mitigating, said the defendant had demonstrated genuine remorse. He denied he got sexual gratification from looking at very young children."īales, of Rowan Close, Biddulph, pleaded guilty to six charges of making indecent images of children. "He was not specifically looking for children but accepts he might have looked for young teens. He was looking for images of men but over the six to 12 months he looked for images of younger men than he had before. He had become addicted to gay pornography for 20 years or so. Mr McConaghy added: "The defendant told police he lived with his wife and he suspected for many years he might be gay. The images were downloaded between April 11 and December 3, 2019.ĭavid Bales, aged 66, admitted making indecent photographs of children "None of the images were accessible on the computer tower but on the iPod they were accessible." "And an iPod touch had 11 category A images, 128 at category B and 473 category C. Mr McConaghy said: "Analysis of the devices showed a tower computer containing 15 category A images, 79 category B and 2,369 category C. Prosecutor Richard McConaghy said police went to the defendant's home on Decemand seized several devices. Now Bales, who has kept the support of his wife and daughter, has been handed a two-year community order at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. The 66-year-old married dad - who had long suspected he was homosexual - viewed the disturbing images on his computer and iPod touch.īut police seized the devices when they visited his home and a total of 26 category A images, the most serious 207 at category B and 2,842 at category C. Pervert pensioner David Bales downloaded thousands of sick images of boys after becoming addicted to gay porn.