A perverted university student living in Carlisle has been jailed after a court heard how he offered offered cash in exchange for illegal images of boys.
At Carlisle Crown Court, Malcolm Porter, 24, of Roseberry Road, Stanwix, who went online to incite a child into taking part in sexual activity, was jailed for 28 months. His crime came to light after police seized his computer equipment.
That and his phone revealed a catalogue of offending – some of it committed while he ran a photography business that entailed taking pictures of children.
He admitted:
- Nine counts of downloading indecent images of a child
- Five counts of distributing indecent child images
- Attempting to incite a 13-year-old child to engage in sexual activity.
Porter’s offending came to light following a referral from another police force in September 2015 about a child who had engaged in online conversation with Porter.
After his arrest, Cumbria police's Digital Media Investigation Unit seized his computer kit and found that between 2013 and 2015 he was accessing indecent images of children.
He then shared the images via social media apps and online chatrooms.
Evidence was also found of Porter using his photography company to engage with children and offer them money for indecent images.
As well as the jail term, Porter was put on the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.
Detective Constable Carolyn Willacy said: “Porter would use his own photography business to meet children and attempt to entice them into sharing indecent images with him.
“In total Porter’s devices held over 1,500 indecent images of children which he would share with people for mutual sexual gratification.
“We will continue to prosecute those who abuse children by engaging in this sort of behaviour.
“It is important that young people realise the dangers that lurk online as there are people out there who are intent on exploiting children.
“We encourage anyone who has any suspicions of any sort of abuse to contact us so we can investigate."
If you wish to report a crime or speak to an officer about an incident, contact Cumbria police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
If you have been affected by rape or sexual assault, contact The Bridgeway Sexual Assault Support Service’s 24/7 free helpline on 0808 118 6432.
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