A former Coventry man, who changed his name by deed poll after being arrested for distributing child pornography on his Twitter page, has been jailed for two years.
Stephen Trivett, who was charged in his new name of John Budd, , had pleaded guilty at Coventry magistrates’ court to three charges of distributing indecent images of children.
Budd (48) of Somerset Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, also admitted one charge of possessing extreme pornography and three of making indecent images of children.
Jailing Budd, formerly of Edgehill Place, Tile Hill, Coventry, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC also ordered him to register as a sex offender for ten years and made him subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his contact with children and access to the internet.
Prosecutor Marcus Harry said that as a result of a police investigation, information came to light that on the 10th of July 2014 indecent images had been uploaded onto the Twitter account of Stephen Trivett.
And he pointed out: “That was the name of the defendant at that time.”
The uploaded images included five defined as being in category A, showing children being subjected to penetrative sex acts.
There were also three category B images of children in non-penetrative sex acts and 11 category C images of children in naked or indecent poses.
As a result, the defendant was arrested and the police seized a flash drive on which they found category A and B images and 48 category C images.
On his tablet computer was a category A movie and 13 movies of extreme pornography, including four involving sex acts with animals.
And Judge Lockhart commented: “It is the extreme images which cause me the most concern, because there were some where children were involved with animals.”
Mr Harry said when the defendant was first interviewed, he gave a prepared statement in which he admitted downloading and distributing the images – and he was interviewed again in May last year, by which time he had changed his name to John Budd.
Jasvir Mann, defending, said: “The matter first came before Your Honour in December. He is now very clear in his mind just how serious this offending is.
“It was made plain by Your Honour that it passed the custody threshold by a country mile. What I hope may just save him is his behaviour post the event.
He said Budd had a personality disorder and suffers from ADHD, and in 2015 he had confided to a doctor that he was addicted to pornography and needed help – although he did not disclose that it involved child pornography.
And since his arrest Budd has contacted an organisation called Stop It Now, as well as continuing to receive help from the Caludon Centre mental health unit in Coventry.
“I hope Your Honour can step back from the precipice he’s placed himself on,” said Mr Mann, who added that the images was not distributed for commercial gain.
But Jailing Budd, Judge Lockhart told him: “You have pleaded guilty to offences which range across a five-year period, when you were in possession of and distributed the most serious images of young people.
“Every time an indecent image of a child is held by a person or, as in this case, distributed, the abuse of that child endures.
“There are a number of aggravating features. Some of the children you had images of were very young, and you were actively involved in distribution, albeit not at a great level.
“I find myself wholly unable to suspend the sentence.”
