Warped Waterlooville paedophile caught with nearly 1,500 disturbing sex abuse images including a baby and dead animals

Waterlooville pervert Mark Bell, 62, said he had an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) that saw him go online to oust conspiracy theorists before his browsing descended into criminality.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how officers had a warrant to attend his home on April 8, 2020, when a search of devices revealed a number of indecent images of children had been uploaded – leading to his arrest.

Between July 2019 and his arrest, police found 130 indecent files had been uploaded onto a social media platform that included a number of profile names, such as Ding Dong 66.

Bell, of Blackbird Close, was found with still and moving indecent images including 492 moving and 82 still Category A – the most serious category.

He was also caught with 234 moving and 98 still Category B images, and 290 moving and 100 still Category C images.

The images found dated back to April 5, 2011, through to April 9, 2020.

Bell, of previous good character, also had 46 prohibited images of a child and 55 extreme pornographic images involving sex with animals dead or alive.

‘One of the moving images was particularly disturbing with it involving a baby being hung upside down,’ prosecutor Thomas Wilkins said.

He added: ‘(Bell) came up with an account for his behaviour (to police) that was implausible. He said he was trying to flush out other users of the site for being fake.’

Howard Barrington-Clark, defending, said: ‘He was looking at sites because of his obsession and OCD not because of his sexual gratification.’

The lawyer said Bell would start looking at sites to target ‘fake conspiracists’ before turning to abuse images. ‘I cannot follow the logic,’ Mr Barrington-Clark said.

Nighttime supermarket worker Bell has since been prescribed anxiety and depression medication for his OCD.

The defendant admitted eight offences including three charges of making indecent images of children, three counts of distributing such images, and single charges of possessing prohibited images of a child, and of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Judge, Recorder Louise Harvey, said Bell would have been locked up immediately for three years had he not admitted the offences straight away.

She conceded the image of the baby in ‘discernible pain and distress’ was an aggravating feature while acknowledging Bell was a ‘medium risk of harm’ to children.

But she added: ‘Probation feel you are able to have your offending managed in the community.’

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Bell was then handed two years in jail suspended for two years, given 35 rehabilitation days, fined £500 and told to pay costs of £150.

He was also told to sign the sex offenders register and comply with a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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