Man, 52, admits possessing indecent images of children

Stephen Mollison, 52, of Northgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, pleaded guilty on Friday to two charges of making indecent images of children, one count of possessing extreme pornographic images, and a further charge of possessing prohibited images of children.

Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard that police received information from the National Crime Agency regarding an IP address indicating that indecent images of children had been uploaded from the internet.

Lesla Small, prosecuting, said police traced the address of the Tumblr account and visited Mollison's home on December 4, 2020.

A number of devices were seized and were then analysed by officers, Ms Small told magistrates.

One category B image was discovered, along with five category C images, 19 prohibited images, and three extreme pornographic videos.

In police interview, Mollison told officers it was not his intention to seek out such images but he admitted that he had seen some.

He said he had tried to report indecent images before.

Ms Small said the category B and C images mainly involved teenage girls.

The court heard that Mollison has no previous convictions.

Claire Lockwood, mitigating, said Mollison accepts responsibility for the images and added that they were not hidden in any encrypted files.

She said Mollison cooperated fully with officers during their investigation, and was not arrested at the time after he agreed for the devices to be taken.

Mollison was then asked to visit the police station for a voluntary interview, which he attended, Ms Lockwood said.

She also told magistrates that there has been no further offending since the images were discovered.

Magistrates committed the case to the crown court for sentence and ordered an all options pre-sentence report.

Mollison was granted unconditional bail and will have to sign the sex offenders' register ahead of his sentence.

He will next appear at Ipswich Crown Court for sentence on a date to be fixed.