By Alec Whittaker
A DENTON man who downloaded child pornography for seven years has been spared jail after a judge said she believed his claims that his perverted behaviour was caused by his cocaine use.
Warehouseman Callen Burgess, 30, said whenever he snorted the drug, he would surf the internet and view indecent images of youngsters before storing them on his mobile phone and other electronic devices.
He was arrested in 2019 after police matched his home address, where he lived alone with his mother, to an IP account used to access the images.
Officers found 326 explicit pictures of children aged between two and 12 which had been downloaded from the internet between March 2012 and July 2019 plus pictures depicting bestiality, Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, heard.
Jonathan Dickinson, prosecuting, said: “In police interview, the defendant said that his cocaine taking made him want to look repeatedly at pornography.
“He also admitted to viewing animal pornography, but he blames that behaviour on his drug taking too.
“The defendant admitted to concealing the images once he has watched them and there were a large number of victims on the pictures.”
Burgess who had previous conviction for cocaine possession admitted making indecent pictures and possessing extreme pornographic pictures but was ordered to complete a three year community order and 240 hours unpaid work.
Judge Angela Nield said: “It is very sad to see somebody who has always been in employment before the court in relation to such serious matters.
“The fact these children were not touched by you does not detract from the fact they are vulnerable to people like you, and you have flourished.
“They are exploited and damaged and when they become adults, they struggle to cope with life because of their sexual experiences.
“However, I believe what you have done was because of your cocaine addiction and there are clearly issues with you having a addictive personality.’’
Burgess was also ordered to abide by a five-year sexual harm prevention order and will have to sign the sex offender register.
His lawyer Neil Ronan said: “He is dealing with a number of complex issues.
“He does feel the issue was the use of cocaine and under the thrall of cocaine, it is clear he has an addictive personality.”