‘Calculated, manipulative and devious’ Luton pervert jailed 12 months for downloading 13,800 images of children

Marc Watts, of Marsom Grove, was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on Friday,February 22, for three counts of making indecent images, or pseudo images, of children and one count of possessing prohibited images of children.

He will also be the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after his release.

A search warrant was carried out at Watts’ home in the early hours of April 12, 2016, after police were informed that someone at that address was accessing indecent images of children via the internet.

Watts was arrested after officers seized two laptops and three USB sticks containing more than 13,800 images and videos, ranging from the more serious category A to category C, including six prohibited images.

Jailing him for 12 months, Judge Barbara Mensah described Watts as “calculated, manipulative and devious”.

Detective Constable Martin Abreu from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team (ICAIT), said: “We are pleased that Watts will be punished for his actions.

“Viewing and possessing indecent images of children is not a victimless crime. It causes real harm to the children concerned, as they are abused and exploited in such a vile and despicable way.

“The ICAIT team is dedicated to tackling offences of this nature, and hope that the custodial sentence Watts has received today sends a strong message to others who seek to abuse children in this way.”

Parents can visit the Parents Protect website, which is run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, for lots of useful resources to help prevent online child sexual abuse. It also contains a list of organisations and resources focusing on keeping children safe in the digital world.

The NSPCC Share Aware website also contains advice and tips about how children can keep themselves safe online.

To report concerns around child sexual abuse call the police on 101.