Dewsbury pensioner had thousands of indecent images on laptop

Officers went to the Dewsbury home of Wilfred Batty in October 2012 after finding he had visited a website which had been compromised and had indecent images put on it.

Prosecutor Richard Canning told Leeds Crown Court the website was quickly shutdown in June 2011 but details were kept of all those who had accessed it.

Batty’s laptop had 1257 images at level one – the lowest in a series of ratings where five is the most serious.

He also had 62 at level two, 197 at level three, 361 at level four and eight at level five.

Batty, 69, said he had lived alone for nine years and was not good on the computer.

He said the images had popped up when he was looking at adult porn sites and he had tried to delete them unsuccessfully.

Khaleeq Zaman, mitigating, said others had mentioned “girlie” sites to Batty after he got the laptop.

He said pop-ups for child porn appeared when Batty visited the sites, and he accepted that he foolishly looked at them.

The court heard Batty told police he got no sexual gratification from the images, and still maintained that was the case.

“He expresses remorse and regret for this offending,” Mr Zaman said.

Batty, of Moorside End, admitted 21 offences of possessing indecent images of children.

He was given a three year community order with a high level activity requirement, which includes a sex offender treatment programme.

Sentencing him on Friday, Judge James Spencer QC said it was “shameful offending” and the consequences for the victims depicted were “beyond imagination.”

But he said he hoped probation involvement would stop any further temptation in the future.