A man found in possession of dozens of pornographic images of children while claiming to be a ‘paedophile hunter’ has avoided jail.
James Edward Pratt, 42, formerly of Millfield Gardens, Crowland but who has now moved to an undisclosed address, had admitted the offences when he appeared at Boston Magistrates Court earlier this month when the case was adjourned for a report from the Probation Service.
Prosecuting, Daniel Pietryka said Pratt had been found in possession of 16 still and seven moving images in category A, seven still and three moving images in category B and 28 still and two moving images in category C, as well as three extreme images involving bestiality.
At the earlier hearing it was said he claimed he was a paedophile hunter, even though he had not in fact handed anything over to, or been in contact with, the police.
Mitigating, Michael Alexander said Pratt was of good character and had indicated that the reason he had the images was because he said he was trying to help the police catch paedophiles but that in the process he had become the very person he was trying to prevent.
He said the images had been sent to him and there was no evidence he had passed them on to anyone else
He said Pratt had been ‘hounded out’ of his home by the public, but the Probation Report showed the risk of his re-offending was ‘very low’ and that the reason he was not offered a caution by the police was only because of the length of the videos he had in his possession.
Pratt was sentenced to a total of six months in prison but this was suspended for two years, and he was ordered to undertake 30 rehabilitation days.
Pratt was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order was put in place for five years.
He was also ordered to pay a total of £205 in court costs and charges.
