A MAN who admitted sexually touching himself while looking at indecent photos of young girls has been spared jail.

Andrew Hart, formerly of Ffordd Tegid in Ewloe, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence on Monday.

The 63-year-old, who currently resides at a hotel in Chester, had previously admitted making indecent pseudo-images of children at categories A, B and C.

Paulinus Barnes, prosecuting, told the court the offences came to light in 2021 when he went to Mold Police Station and said he wanted to discuss images "seen on his phone."

He said members of his family had become aware of images of 'naturist families' - which included young girls - while helping him to transfer data over to a new phone.

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Police attended his home and seized a number of devices.

A work colleague discovered three further USB devices concealed inside a guitar Hart kept in a locker at his workplace, the court heard.

One of those was found to contain numerous adult pornographic materials, video footage of Hart naked while on holiday - as well as indecent images of young girls.

Mr Barnes said the children depicted in the images discovered were between six and 11 years old.

When he was interviewed by police, Hart told officers he liked to look at naturist websites and had screenshotted some of the pages onto his phone. 

He admitted some of those pages included images of families with young children, but claimed he didn't go there specifically to look for them and got no sexual gratification from them.

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However the court heard that when he was interviewed by probation officers for the completion of a pre-sentence report, he admitted that he had sexually touched himself while looking at the images - an act his defending barrister James Coutts said "can only have been for sexual gratification."

Mr Coutts added his client had taken steps to address his behaviour, including engaging with child sexual abuse prevention charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

"It's no understatement to say that as a result of his offending he has lost everything," Mr Coutts continued.

"He has lost his wife, his family, his career, his financial security and his home.

"He is currently living in a hotel - as soon as his house is sold, he will be presenting to the local authority as homeless."

The court heard Hart ceased his employment as soon as the offences came to light.

"He has not worked in that sector since and he won't be again," Mr Coutts said.

"He is perhaps going to struggle, moving forward with the convictions he has, to find gainful employment."

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Judge Rhys Rowlands told the defendant: "The number of images are not large by comparison with what sometimes comes before the court - around 100 in all.

"Nonetheless, these remain disturbing offences.

"You are no doubt now leading a rather sad and lonely existence.

"You said you were not sexually motivated. It is plain to me and anyone else that you do have a sexual interest in children and there is a need to confront that by intensive work."

The Judge jailed Hart for 30 weeks, but suspended the sentence for two years.

He ordered that the defendant carry out 40 days of rehabilitation activity and pay £250 towards costs, as well as a £120 victim surcharge.

He must also register as a sex offender for 10 years, and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

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