Man caught with indecent images of children for second time after police check at his Sunderland home

A man was caught with images of children on his computer after a random spot check by police – four years after an earlier conviction.
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David Fagan, 35, had five indecent images of youngsters aged five to 16 on devices at his home in Elemore Lane, Easington Lane.

The photos - three of category B and two category C - were discovered on Tuesday, December 1 and spanned November 16 to December 2, 2018.

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Fagan was convicted of similar offences in 2016 for which he was handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and put on the sex offenders’ register.

David Fagan, 35, had five indecent images of youngsters aged five to 16 on devices at his home in Elemore Lane, Easington Lane, he will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown CourtDavid Fagan, 35, had five indecent images of youngsters aged five to 16 on devices at his home in Elemore Lane, Easington Lane, he will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court
David Fagan, 35, had five indecent images of youngsters aged five to 16 on devices at his home in Elemore Lane, Easington Lane, he will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

The order has no end point, meaning he is subject to unannounced visits by the law, magistrates in South Tyneside heard.

Prosecutor Becky Slade said: “On December 1, an officer visited the defendant’s address.

“He was employed by the police as management of registered sex offenders. He attended shortly before 5pm.

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“The defendant was subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The unannounced visit was made to ensure compliance of the order.

“The main computer showed a search relating to sexual abuse of young female children. He was cautioned and arrested.”

Ms Slade added: “He said that he had begun to download but had stopped and had not viewed. Three devices were seized from the address.”

She said the images were found on one computer.

The court heard the starting point for making category B images – the middle of three offence levels, with category C the least serious – is six months behind bars.

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Fagan’s sole previous conviction contained 11 offences including making indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography.

For that, he was sentenced at crown court to a three-year community order and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The community order has now expired but was in place at the time of his latest offences.

Fagan pleaded guilty to two charges of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photograph of a child.

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David Forrester, defending, agreed with Ms Slade that Fagan should be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court.

Fagan was granted unconditional bail to be sentenced at the crown court on Tuesday, April 13.

Magistrates told Fagan he must attend a police station within three days to inform of his latest conviction.

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