Another man getting off lightly after serious sexual crimes

[PoirotDidIt]

... apparently due to "mental health issues" caused by chemo and isolation.

From the Liverpool Echo:

A Merseyside police officer caught with a stash of 1,500 indecent images of children today walked free from court.
PC Darren Wright , who was sacked in October, admitted downloading, possessing and sharing pictures of child sex abuse.
But he was spared jail after Liverpool Crown Court heard how he suffered mental health problems after twice battling leukaemia.

Apparently the stash included 23 Category A images – the most serious category in sentencing guidelines – involving child rape.
... Describing the pictures, Mr Jones told the court: “One of those is notably a very, very young child indeed.”
...
James Hamilton, defending, said his client’s health difficulties had “a significant impact upon the reason why he offended”.

WTAF?
AIBU to think that mental health problems don't suddenly turn a normal person into a peadophile? How disgusting towards those who suffer mentally precisely because of creeps like this!
Apparently he gathered the collection over a two-year period so hardly a moment of madness!

But creepy sick men who put their own sexual pleasure before anything or anyone else - meh apparently that's fine.

How the fuck have they decided he "poses little risk"?!

THis and the Katrina O'Hara story is chilling. PO's have carte blanche to commit the worst crimes against the most vulnerable, and they also leave victims more vulnerable than tehy were before the called the freaking police? Terrifying.

Let's face it, white mens lives matter more than ANYONE else's, and they always have each other's backs.

Sickens me.

As another MNer said last week, judges seem to just accept any old cock and bull story these creeps come up with. Disgusting

So the stress of leukaemia turns you into a paedophile? Fascinating

Yet another thread that reads like something out of the Daily Fail. A lot of time and thought goes in to pre-sentence assessment and the absence of a custodial penalty does not mean that indecent image offenders will not be engaged in rehabilitation and monitored by the authorities. I know this, because it's my job and I have never trivialised or disregarded the seriousness of such offences or the harm they cause. But as decades of research has demonstrated, prison is not necessarily the answer. The offences themselves are repugnant yes, but you cannot achieve behavioural change through bullying.

Bullying? Is a custodial sentence bullying? Really? Why do we ever impose them then?

And can you explain how a cancer diagnosis can lead to unleashing a predilection for seeing young children raped @RochelleGoyle?

I cannot imagine that his offending was directly attributed to cancer - please remember that what the Liverpool Echo reports may not be an accurate record of what was said in court. It is completely plausible, however, that suffering from cancer can lead to a decline in mental health and social isolation. It appears that these factors were assessed as having contributed to his offending. Nobody is saying mental health issues makes someone a sex offender, or that cancer makes someone a sex offender. As with the vast majority of offenders, numerous factors combine to underpin the criminal actions. Certain elements of the press love to stir the pot because this is such an emotive issue. The fact is though that many people convicted for indecent image offence have experienced social isolation, relationship difficulties and mental health problems. It's just not black and white.

As for bullying, I was referring more to the attitudes demonstrated on this thread than the concept of imprisonment, but it is true that prison alone is very rarely sufficient to help an offender desist.

The fact is though that many people convicted for indecent image offence have experienced social isolation, relationship difficulties and mental health problems

Diddums for them. I'm sure the children in the images these men view aren't exactly having a good time of it either.

I didn't suggest otherwise Delete, I was just answering a question.

The fact is though that many people convicted for indecent image offence have experienced social isolation, relationship difficulties and mental health problems

I hear what you are saying, but this is a chicken and egg situation isn’t it? Because nobody would want to hang out with, or be in a relationship with, somebody who enjoys watching babies being raped.

And I imagine there are often signs that they are creepy fuckers prior to the police searching their hard drive.

Yeah, sometimes there will be signs and sometimes offenders have partners who genuinely didn't have a clue what their other halves were up to. Compulsive internet use and overuse of pornography are often present prior to the onset of d/l indecent images, but of course that doesn't mean all porn users will become sex offenders. There is increasing recognition of the destructive impact of overusing pornography, particularly upon users' ability to maintain healthy intimate relationships. It's a really complex area.

Him being a police officer should be an aggravating factor imo. Surely, as someone employed to uphold the law, your punishment should actually be harsher for having violated it?