Amateur detective under supervision after looking up child pornography

A man who looked up 106 indecent images of children has been handed a two-year community supervision order at Derby's Crown Court.

The man claimed he believed his niece and nephew were victims of sexual abuse and was searching online for picture evidence. The court was told the defendant's sister accused a partner of sleeping naked with her children, the defendant's  niece and nephew. The accusation was made to police after they took her into custody in 2010 during a domestic violence incident. However the next day the mother claimed that this was not true and that she made the accusation while drunk so no charges were brought.

The prosecution was satisfied with the defendant's claim and that he was not seeking sexual gratification from the images. However the Judge said, "his detective work was very inappropriate" particularly because he was, "doing it without any reference to the authorities." The Judge told the defendant, "I think you need some education about the harm that this does to children." He also said the defendant must register his address with the police for the next five years and advised him, "not to go onto the internet and make similar inquiries."

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