Retired IT worker who had 7,000 indecent images of children avoids jail

John Stoddart, of Madeira Road, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, was arrested in June 2018 after the National Crime Agency proved he had made child sex abuse files available on an online sharing platform.

Investigators located files containing the words ‘Pedoland’, ‘Preteen’ and ‘Lolita’ which were linked to Stoddart’s IP address and user profile.

They carried out a forensic analysis of his digital devices and found 7,256 indecent images and 754 videos – going back to 2004.

An additional 3,000 images related to bestiality.

When interviewed the 65-year-old initially denied all allegations and said he was not sexually attracted to children.

He told officers he sometimes clicked on online files ‘to give them a go’, and that he’d once inadvertently seen a video of a baby being abused by clicking into a pop-up on his screen.

Among the downloaded materials, online games and visual stories were found featuring erotic encounters with adults, children and animals.

Stoddart admitted to having a fascination with incest because it was ‘taboo’ and said he had been collecting extreme pornography since living in Germany in the seventies.

He appeared at Newport Magistrates Court on July 13 and admitted 10 charges mainly relating to making and possessing indecent images of children.

SEE ALSO: Hit and run driver hunted after crash outside Portsmouth pub

On August 14, at Newport Crown Court, he was sentenced to eight months in jail suspended for two years and hit with a £3,000 fine.

He was also put on the sex offenders register for 10 years, given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order limiting his use of the internet, ordered to attend a 35-day rehabilitation programme and told his electronic devices will be destroyed.

In total Stoddart made in excess of 500 indecent images of children; 149 fell into the most severe category (A) for child abuse.

Martin Matthews, NCA operations manager, said: ‘Over decades Stoddart had made and amassed a vast collection of imagery that was both obscene and involved the sexual exploitation of children.

‘He took pleasure in experiencing a virtual world online that involved violence and sexual abuse. Stopping this before it ever became a reality was paramount to our officers.

‘Protecting children remains a top priority for the NCA and we won’t stop in our pursuit of those individuals who pose a threat.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.