Rustington man pleads guilty to possessing thousands of indecent images of children and animals
On Tuesday (February 11), Worthing Magistrates’ Court heard how Keith Stanton, 62, of Broadmark Way in Rustington, admitted the charges over more than 3,000 indecent images of children dating back to on or around July 5, 2018, in Littlehampton.
Stanton also pleaded guilty to possessing three images of a person committing a serious sexual offence against an animal, and possessing five prohibited images of children.
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Hide AdThe court heard that Stanton was caught by a specialist investigation team which tracked him using his computer’s IP address.
A search of his property found several devices in his home and vehicle containing the illicit images.
Some of the victims were aged between three and five years old, the court heard, with the photographs made ‘over a period of time and on a number of devices’.
Chairman of the bench Peter Harbord said that due to the ‘very serious nature’ of the offences, the magistrate’s court did not have jurisdiction to deliver an appropriate sentence and passed the matter on to crown court.
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Hide AdStanton was granted unconditional bail and ordered to attend Lewes Crown Court on March 12.
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