Former Teacher Sentenced to 9 Months for Possession of Child Abuse Images

A 61-year-old retired teacher found in possession of more than 8,000 child images abuse images has been jailed. The former teacher admitted that he acquired the images from both the Clearnet and the dark web. His search history showed that he also searched for child sex holiday destinations.

David Wright from Connelly Court, Chesterfield appeared before Judge Ebrahim Mooncey in the Derby Crown Court for his sentencing hearing. The prosecution represented by Lucy Jones told the court that Wright was arrested on February 14 and placed in police custody for interrogation following the search of his house and seizure of his laptop. Ms. Jones told the court that police analysts found 3,864 images and 340 movies all in category A, 2,894 images and 177 videos in category B and 2,226 images and five movies in category C. the images had boys and girls aged from 5 to 12 years.

The David Wright Mugshot

The David Wright Mugshot

In Wright’s search history, the police found incriminating searches such as ‘boy in drag,’ ‘dominant school girl’ and ‘what is an indecent image.’ Wright also searched for ‘child sex destinations,’ ‘Cambodia child sex,’ and ‘Madagascar child sex.’ The prosecution told the court that Wright kept quiet during his interrogation and only talked when telling the cops that he did not have a passport and he would not move to Cambodia or Madagascar. Ms. Jones also told the court that Wright had used his laptop to access the dark web where he may have downloaded some of the indecent images.

In Wright’s defense, Chris Brewin asked the Judge to take into consideration the fact that Wright had a clean criminal history. He told the court that Wright had been a teacher for a long time after which he started tutoring but was forced to stop by a health condition. Mr. Brewin disclosed that Wright has a stent that was inserted after he had a heart attack on ￼December 2018. He also said Wright is responsible as he took care of his ailing mother till her death in 2017.

In the end, a remorseful Wright pleaded guilty to possession of child abuse images in categories A, B and C. Before issuing the sentence Judge Mooncey said that he had concluded that Wright is a loner who had isolated himself even though he has health problems. He also said that Wright’s offenses crossed the custodial threshold. As a result, Judge Mooncey handed him 9 months of a custodial sentence and 10 years in the sex offenders’ register.

Wright’s sentence follows UK’s government pledge to strengthen the fight against child abusers and exploiters operating on either the Clearnet or the dark web. A £30 million fund will intensify the fight. The fund will equip the UK’s Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The AI will be used in voice analytics and age estimation, which will help in shortening the time taken in identifying the pedophiles and their victims.

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