Wigan child porn pervert is jailed after re-offending

The fact that Simon McDonald already had child porn convictions against him meant that a Bolton Crown Court judge gave him an immediate prison sentence on hearing his admissions.

Had he been a first-time offender and, given that there were only a handful of images found and he entered a guilty plea, the 41-year-old would more likely have been given a suspended sentence.

McDonald, of Dorning Street, Wigan, had previously appeared before Wigan and Leigh magistrates to plead guilty to three charges: one of possessing three indecent images of children which by law fall into the most serious category (A), a single category B picture and one category C image.

He also admitted to breaching a sexual offences prevention order which had been varied in October 2014.

The hearing was told that McDonald had been convicted of possessing indecent images of children by a Liverpool Crown Court jury in 2011, part of the punishment for which involved the prevention order.

Among its many conditions were the stipulation that he did not use any computer or storage device capable of storing digital images unless the details of the device have been notified to a police offender manager for the area where the defendant resides and possessing or taking any visual images of a female under the age of 18 years.

As well as the 28 months’ immediate custody, the judge also put him on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years while the sexual offences prevention order continues unchanged. The forfeiture and destruction of the phone was also ordered.

The restrictions do allow him to have pictures of under-18 females if they are family members, are contained within lawful publications or have been authorised by his police offender manager.