Man with over 75,000 indecent images of children locked up

A 64-year-old man who pleaded guilty to being in possession of over 75,000 indecent images of children has been sent to prison.

Martin White, previously of Rothersthorpe Road, Northampton, was spotted accessing some of the images by a reveller at a New Year’s Eve house party at the end of 2018.

“I saw the male through the window on his computer,” the witness said. “I noticed that he was looking at pornographic images. One was of a young girl, aged about 9-10. She was not wearing anything from the waist down.”

As a result, White was arrested and his address searched by Northamptonshire Police.

Subsequent examination of the devices seized by officers from his home showed that he had over 75,000 indecent images of children, many of them Category A – the most serious.

He was subsequently charged with multiple indecent images of children offences and pleaded guilty to all of them at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, September 16.

He was jailed for one year and three months.

Lead Investigator, DC Adam Brooks from Northamptonshire Police’s POLIT Team, said: “This was an unusual case as we rarely get witnesses to these types of crimes.

“People like Martin White often falsely believe that their crimes are victimless but the fact is in order for these images to be created children are abused.

“ I am pleased the courts have handed White a custodial sentence because in my view - anyone in possession of child abuse material poses a significant risk to children. This addiction is very difficult to manage in the community so custody was the right decision.

“As the internet gets bigger our tools get better and I would like to reassure the Northamptonshire community that we will catch those who possess child abuse material. Whether it be tomorrow, next week or next year, our teams will come knocking on your door when you least expect it.”