‘GROSS’ indecent images of naked children were downloaded by a Rugby man who took advantage of the current heath crisis to try to cover up his own features when leaving court.
Hiding behind fears over Coronavirus, Neil Rylance donned a surgical mask before leaving Warwick Crown Court after being given a community order.
Before leaving the court building, Rylance put on a surgical face mask – which he later took off as he lit a cigarette.
Rylance, 50, of Junewood Close, Brownsover, had earlier pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children.
He was given a two-year community order, with a 30-day rehabilitation activity including a ‘Maps for Change’ workbook, fined £500, and ordered to register as a sex offender for five years.
Prosecutor Amiee Parkes said that as a result of police intelligence about the uploading of indecent images of children in 2017, a warrant was executed at Rylance’s home in June 2018.
He was arrested on suspicion of having indecent material and various equipment was seized, on which specialist officers found hundreds of accessible and inaccessible indecent images of children.
There was evidence of more than 1,400 images, including 12 in the most serious categories A and B.
The rest were category C images of children in naked or indecent poses, with the images having been accessed on dates between October 2017 and June 2018.
But Miss Parkes pointed out that only 43 category C images were accessible, and all the rest were in inaccessible space, having been deleted.
Rylance’s search history was also checked, and revealed search terms including ‘pre-teen,’ ‘young girl child models,’ and ‘child underwear.’
When Rylance was interviewed, he admitted making and distributing category C images, but claimed there would be no such material on his PC.
But in another interview he said he did not know if there would be, but accepted he was the only person with access to it – and in fact it contained two category B and 110 category C images, said Miss Parkes.
Simon Hunka, defending, said Rylance had suffered from long-standing health problems, and as well as anxiety, he suffered from issues with his eyes, a thinning of the cornea for which he had had one operation and was due to have another.
“He was married and holding down a job, working around his health problems, and he was leading a perfectly positive life.
“But then the ending of his marriage in 2010 was the key turning point in his life. His life became two-tone, going to work and going home.
“He was self-medicating with alcohol, and his association with alcohol became more and more unhealthy, and his desire to have a social life took him online.
“His sense of what he was doing became rather warped. He justified himself that it was not as wrong as he now appreciates it was. He may look back on that day in 2018 when it all came to light as a positive day,” Mr Hunka added.
Sentencing Rylance, Judge Peter Cooke told him: “The evidence demonstrates that over a couple of years your behaviour on chatrooms was soliciting images of gross material depicting the abuse of children.
“You became drawn ever more into it, but you are effectively a person of hitherto good character.”
Before leaving the court building, Rylance put on a surgical face mask – which he later took off as he lit a cigarette.
