Man admits child abuse and porn charges
A man admitted to a string of child abuse and pornography charges this morning, but the media was banned from reporting who he is.The 47-year-old pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a boy aged under 14 on five different occasions between January 2009 and April 2011.He also admitted to accessing child pornography on 11 different occasions.The media is usually able to identify a person once they have pleaded guilty to sexual offences or been convicted of them, although it cannot print anything to identify the victim.However, defence lawyer Simon Payne told Chief Justice Richard Ground there is a “real chance” the child in this case, who was an acquaintance of the defendant, could have his anonymity compromised if the defendant’s name was published.Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney agreed there was a risk, and the Chief Justice therefore imposed a reporting restriction. However, he noted: “I would expect the sentencing judge to revisit this on an evidential basis when we get to that point”.When the case first came to court in September, prosecutor Larissa Burgess stated that the offences took place over a number of years. When allegations of child molestation surfaced, she said, police raided the man’s Pembroke home and found more than 3,000 pornographic photos and more than 100 movie files. These involved sexual acts between children, sexual acts between children and adults and bestiality.The man is due back in court on December 1 for a sentencing date to be fixed.In another case that came up at the monthly arraignments session today, 26-year-old Gladstone Butterfield admitted possessing a gun that was found in his car when he was arrested in Southampton in the early hours of July 25.The weapon in question was a Kel-Tec semi-automatic P11 pistol, according to the charge. Butterfield denied possessing nine “full metal jacket” 9mm bullets, and prosecutor Carrington Mahoney asked for that charge to lie on file.The defendant, of Horseshoe Road, Southampton, was remanded into custody and will also appear in court again on December 1 for a sentencing date to be fixed.