Shamed Havant pervert avoids jail after enjoying watching child sexual abuse

Lawrence Coates, 23, of Bedhampton Way, took sadistic pleasure from seeing children as young as three years of age being sexually assaulted, Portsmouth Crown Court heard. The defendant, who denied he had any sexual interest in children when he was caught, admitted he was relieved when officers busted him as otherwise he would not have stopped.

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Police were alerted to Coates downloading abuse images of children to his iCloud via the US technology giant Apple. Officers then arrived at his address on June 15 last year and seized his devices where they found hundreds of still and moving images.

Police found 179 still images and 41 moving of the worst type of Category A images, 141 still Category B images and 536 still and one moving Category C images. Coates also had 171 still and 11 moving prohibited images of children. The offending took place from April 2019 to September 2022. Coates admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, and a single charge of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

The court heard Coates had a preference for abuse imagery showcasing ‘family incest’ with many of the pictures depicting children under the influence of substances. Following his arrest, Coates told police he ‘felt ashamed’ and felt it was a good thing he was caught otherwise he ‘would not stop’. But he claimed he had no sexual interest in children but just enjoyed watching child abuse pornography.

Coates had no previous convictions and was said to be an ‘immature’ man who was ‘socially isolated’. He was also said to be remorseful.

Judge Richard Shepherd told Coates: ‘When you look at images or movies of this sort of thing there is a real child who has been sexually abused, a real child who has been damaged and a real child who has been put in pain. There is a real risk as they grow up they will remember what happened to them and with it being filmed they know people look at the abuse again and again. Even as an adult the abuse does not come to end.’

The judge went on to say by joining a ‘community’ of individuals on the dark web and downloading the images meant Coates was ‘contributing to the abuse’ and the ‘discernible pain and distress’ suffered by the children during the ‘prolonged sexual abuse’. But he concluded the defendant was ‘genuinely remorseful’ and stood a ‘good chance of rehabilitation’ and therefore opted not to impose an immediate custodial sentence.

Coates was handed a two-year jail term suspended for two years, told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation days, attend a sex offender’s program and pay £425 costs. He was also told to comply with sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years. Coates was warned he faces jail if he breaches the sentence.

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