A chef has been jailed for two years for downloading indecent images of children and breaching a strict court order designed to curb his illicit online activities.
Callum Godfrey, 33, from Great Langton, between Scorton and Northallerton, had been made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order in 2019 for previous offences of making sexual images of children.
As part of that order, he was banned from deleting his internet history and had to notify police about any new computer devices which he had to make available for inspection, York Crown Court heard.
But during an unannounced visit to Godfrey’s home in February, police found a Samsung tablet which he had not disclosed, on which were found 26 indecent images of minors.
Prosecutor Kate Barnes said Godfrey continued to breach the order even after the initial arrest and police inspection at his home.
During the first police visit on February 4, officers asked Godfrey if he had any devices for inspection but he handed over only a Samsung mobile, claiming it was the only internet device in his home.
“But upon interrogating him, officers saw there were three devices associated with his internet accounts,” said Ms Barnes.
“Police asked several times whether there was another device (and) he denied this.”
Godfrey finally admitted he had a Samsung tablet under his bedside table. He said the illicit photos, which he had downloaded from his Cloud storage, were the same images for which he was sentenced to a community order at Durham Crown Court in May 2019.
Godfrey, of The Square, Great Langton, was released under investigation but on May 26, during an annual-risk-assessment visit to his home by a detective constable, he again lied to police about the number of devices at his home.
“He said he had only one mobile,” added Ms Barnes.
When police visited his home for a third time in June, he repeated this lie. Officers found two more mobiles in his bedroom which had not been declared.
Furthermore, they found he had been deleting his internet browsing history by removing apps and data from his phone.
Godfrey was charged with four counts of breaching the order and one count of making Category C indecent images. He admitted all five offences and appeared for sentence via video link today after being remanded in custody.
The court heard that Godfrey’s previous conviction for three counts of making indecent images of children resulted in a three-year community order with rehabilitation. He was also slapped with a five-year sexual-harm prevention order which banned him from using any internet-enabled device without first notifying police and from deleting his internet history.
Emma Williams-Watson, mitigating, said that Godfrey, who was in a stable relationship, had “re-downloaded” the original images and had “forgotten” about the phones that he failed to disclose to police.
She said he had found work as a chef at a pub but would lose that job and his home if he were sent to jail.
Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Godfrey: “In 2019, the court gave you a chance…(but) you have flagrantly and persistently breached that (sexual-harm prevention order), so much so that I consider that only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate punishment.”
He said Godfrey had shown a “determination to flout the law for your own sexual gratification”.
Godfrey was jailed for two years, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.
The judge imposed a new 10-year sexual-harm prevention order and ordered Godfrey to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for the next 10 years.
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