John Stoddart of Ventnor, Isle of Wight, has received an eight-month jail sentence – suspended for two years – after admitting ten charges relating to the making and possessing of indecent images and videos of child sexual abuse.
In June 2018, officers from the National Crime Agency spent around ten hours searching the 65-year-old’s flat in Madeira Road, Ventnor. What followed was a two-year investigation into Stoddart’s activities.
Stoddart: NCA “just fancied a day out at the seaside”
Following the 2018 raid, neighbours say Stoddart told them it was ‘all about nothing’ and that ‘they [NCA] just fancied a day out at the seaside’.
He was arrested the same month, after NCA officers were able to prove he’d made child sex abuse files available on an online sharing platform. He admitted the charges over a month ago at Newport Magistrates Court.
Over 7,000 indecent images
The NCA say Stoddart made in excess of 500 indecent images of children; 149 fell into the most severe category (A) for child sexual abuse.
They added that that forensic analysis of Stoddart’s digital devices found 7,256 indecent images and 754 videos from as early as 2004.
An additional 3,000 images related to bestiality – namely a human performing intercourse with a live or dead animal.
Files containing the words ‘Pedoland’, ‘Preteen’ and ‘Lolita’ were located and attributed to Stoddart’s IP address and user profile.
However, it wasn’t just the videos and photos of child sexual abuse that was found. The NCA say Stoddart was a fan of visual stories featuring erotic encounters with adults, children and animals. He is known locally as an online gamer.
Charges admitted to
The ten charges that Stoddart admitted to, were that he:
- Made 103 category A indecent videos of children
- Made 46 category A indecent images of children
- Made 30 category B indecent videos of children
- Made 56 category B indecent images of children
- Made 4 category C indecent videos of children
- Made 287 category C indecent images of children
- Possessed 487 videos of extreme pornography, namely a human performing intercourse with a live or dead animal
- Possessed 2,451 images of extreme pornography, namely a human performing intercourse with a live or dead animal
- Possessed 64 prohibited images of children
- Possessed 2,621 prohibited still images of children
See the CPS Website for definitions of what ‘making’ and ‘possessing’ mean.
Matthews: Sexual exploitation of children
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.”
Indefinite sexual harm prevention order
As part of his sentencing at Newport Crown Court yesterday (Friday 14th August) Stoddart was also put on the sex offenders register for ten 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.
Limiting use of the Internet generally means the person may be able to access the Internet, but only via computer or device that is monitored by law enforcement.
