A “dangerous” paedophile gathered thousands of indecent images of children and facilitated sharing the “disturbing” material in chat rooms. Christopher Cefyn James, received a knock on his door from police on June 10, 2020 after the National Crime Agency became concerned he was sharing illegal photos.
James, aged 34, initially denied any illegal activity online in front of his family, but slipped outside and told an officer: “I am involved. I don't know why I do it. I am not interested in the children.”
What officers uncovered on James’ phones, laptops and other electronic devices were hundreds of indecent images ranging from Category A to Category C, multiple online searches surrounding child pornography and various online conversations.
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James also ran online chat groups where he asked others to share their indecent images. Prosecutor Ian Senny told Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon (May 16): “For a number of years, this defendant has been an active and enthusiastic presence online indulging with like-minded others in his sexual interest in children.
“He has taken a leading role in sharing and encouraging others to share such images and discussing in graphic and, I submit disturbing detail, what he would want to do to other peoples’ children. His interests are extreme and are both sadistic and sexual abuse of young children including babies.”
His seized devices uncovered a “significant number of images”, including 940 Category A images, a “big number” of Category B images and 2,403 Category C images. Officers also uncovered numerous conversations where found where he discussed sexual abuse, trading images and sharing his “extreme sexual interests”.
Mr Senny added: “The defendant’s social media activity also identifies him as an administrator of a chat room on Snapchat under the account of ‘naughtyhubbyuk’. Chat logs from this group telling people the rules, involving sharing child abuse material before he would add them to the group. If they didn’t, he would remove them.”
When interviewed by police, James gave no comment and remained under police investigation. While on bail, James continued to engage in the illegal online activity and officers discovered more than 1,000 indecent images ranging from Category A to C.
James, of Trym Leaze in Sea Mills, continued to offer no comment in police interviews and was subsequently charged with distributing an indecent photograph of a child, making indecent photographs of a child and voyeurism. He pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this year.
Links and contact to help keep children safe online
Online child sex abuse is a real problem but one that is not easy to tackle.
Many children now have mobile phones and easy computer access. Paedophiles are taking advantage of this and accessing children on a number of apps, platforms and games.
But there is help out there to keep children safe online and to help those that may have been a victim if such abuse. There si also help for family and friends of those committing such abuse. Below are some links and contacts that can help.
The Lucy Faithfull Foundation works with those affected by internet offending, particularly partners and close relatives of those committing such offences. Click here for details. There is also a 'Stop It Now! helpline for anyone with concerns over child sexual abuse which you can call on 0808 1000 900.
Children can contact Childline on 0800 111 for free or visit the website.
The NSPCC has information on ways to protect children online which you can find here. Young people can also use the NSPCC’s ‘report and remove’ tool where images have been uploaded and shared which they want removing from the internet altogether.
Defending, Alistair Haggerty, offered several character references which described him as “thoughtful”, “caring” and “hard-working”, as well as someone who looked after his ill father before his death. One person commented James was a man of “high moral character” - but Judge Michael Cullum rejected this claim.
Judge Cullum remarked: “It is a surprise that an individual knowing what the defendant has done and talking about, thinks it’s appropriate to describe the defendant with an obvious flaw in his character. This is not a man of high moral character. You can’t come to that conclusion.”
He added: “Helping his father during the day, watching babies be raped during the night. That doesn’t add up to a man of high moral integrity, does it?”
Mr Haggerty shared James was highly remorseful of his actions and likened his illegal behaviour to an addiction and escalating his needs. He added that James had lost his job as a mechanic, home, family and was “aware he was facing prison”.
He said: “Mr James is someone who now demonstrates genuine remorse, despite the fact the report describes self-hatred. He is someone who is genuinely disgusted about what he has done.
“It is notable that his remand in custody is a relief to him. Something had to break the cycle. He recognises the time in prison enabled him to properly reflect on his offending and accept the gravity of what he’s done.”
Left aghast at James’ actions, Judge Cullum remarked he “cannot and frankly do not want to find the adjectives to describe what you did”. He said: “Your possession of indecent images of children and your enthusiastic distribution of them while running a WhatsApp group.
“You discuss in graphic and disturbing detail what you would like to do to other peoples’ children (...) Your interests are extreme and involve the sadistic sexual abuse of very young children including babies.
He added: “You are of course dangerous. You pose an enormous risk to children. Certianly in distributing their images and there will be a concern of what you have not done to physically abuse children. You have abused children.”
James was jailed for four years, including one-year extended licence, placed on the sex offenders register for life and was imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He was ordered to stay 50 metres away from schools and playgrounds and ordered to £120 victim surcharge and a deprivation order was made on his electronic devices.
