Paedophile Pensioner jailed after hiding pictures of children being abused on his computer
A Pensioner has been jailed after he continued to hide hundreds of images of children being raped and abused even after being caught a first time.
Alan Barclay, 86, didn’t tell visiting police officers about a computer he had hidden away so that the true extent of his collection was not known.Barclay, of Penwick Road in Falmouth, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentencing having pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and possession of an extreme pornographic image.Prosecuting, Ed Bailey described how Barclay was sentenced at the same court last year for having child abuse images and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.
The order prohibited Barclay from having a device capable of accessing the internet without notifying police.
On March 26, Barclay’s offender manager visited his home to conduct a routine and unannounced interview.
It was the fifth time Barclay had been visited, and on each occasion, the terms of the sexual harm prevention order were reiterated.During the visit, officers carried out a search and found a computer tower hidden away.
Police searched it for indecent material and found images and videos showing children being raped. There were also images showing bestiality.Representing Barclay, Ramsay Quaife said: “He is 86-years-old and in a prison cell. He is not a well man and had a number of ailments. It is his first time in prison and he has found prison a lot harder than other people.”
Judge Simon Carr said that chronology is crucial in this case.
He said: “In April 2019, your property was searched and a large number of child abuse images were found.
"It took a while for the matter to be brought to court and you were sentenced in 2021.“All this time you knew full well you had a substantial store of child abuse images police hadn’t found but decided to stay quiet and not tell them.”
Judge Carr said this was so the court didn’t realise the true extent of Barclay’s offending, hidden on the device he hadn’t disclosed.
He added: “I accept you say you didn’t view them between your first arrest and today but you kept them, you hid them and you lied to police.”
Barclay was jailed for 21 months.