A PAEDOPHILE that admitted to having thousands of images of “sick porn” hid his face as he walked free from court.

Timothy Johnson, 45, was told by the judge that his denial of having a sexual interest in children ‘came within a cat’s whisker of him being sent to prison.’

(Image: Newsquest)

Prosecutor, Lisa Bowles, told Bournemouth Crown Court on October 7 that Dorset Police became aware of Johnson’s activity and tracked him to his home using his IP address.

While officers searched his home on June 2, 2023, Johnson referred to “sick porn” on his devices.

Dorset Police found 565 of the most serious indecent images of children as well as 401 category B and 2,711 category C.

Ms Bowles said that both still and moving images were found and that they were accessed between March 11, 2019 and May 31, 2023.

The images contained children as young as two years old, ranging to 12 years old.

Mitigating, Michael Phillips, said the defendant was victim of sexual abuse as a child which he believes “laid seeds” to his offences.

He added that when Johnson was aged in his 30s he became addicted to legal pornography.

By 2019, Johnson’s wife was pregnant with their first child which he said was a “difficult pregnancy.”

As a result of this and other personal pressures, his addiction turned to indecent images of children.  

“It took on a life of its own after Covid,” said Mr Phillips.

Judge Robert Pawson said he was not persuaded that Johnson’s own abuse provided an explanation for his offences.

“You were downloading images of children who were undergoing the most foul sexual abuse,” said Judge Pawson.

He added: “Mr Johnson you don’t have to be psychologist, psychiatrist or therapist to appreciate that that sort of abuse will affect those children for life and that there is no way of destroying those images because they have been downloaded by people like you over the world.”

He said that the suggestion that Johnson does not have a sexual interest in children was “absolute poppycock”.

“You are directly contributing to the rape of children by downloading those images because if people like you didn’t download them then other people wouldn’t take them and put them on the internet.”

Johnson, 45 and of Kings Street in Sturminster Marshall, was handed a 12-month sentence suspended for two years for three counts of making indecent photographs of children.

He was also ordered to complete 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 300 hours of unpaid work.  

Johnson will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and the sex offenders register, both for 10 years.