By Grâçia Ada Obi
A man has been jailed after he was found in possession of almost 70,000 indecent images of children, some of which he uploaded to the internet.
Ian Wraith, of Birdwood Grove, Fareham, was arrested at his home on July 31 after police received information that child sex abuse images had been accessed at the address. Police investigations following his arrest determined that Wraith possessed almost 70,000 indecent images of children.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said that a total of 68,107 were found on digital devices belonging to the 75-year-old, with 561 of these being graded as Category A, the most severe category. Police also said that this number reflects only the images graded by cops, with the extent of his offending and the number of images in his possession expected to be much higher.
Wraith had previously spent time behind bars for similar offences and as a result, had been handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). He was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children, as well as breaching the SHPO, which he did after deleting his internet history despite the order preventing him from doing so.
During a court hearing on September 2, Wraith pleaded guilty to all charged. He was sentenced to two years and eight months behind bars during a subsequent hearing on Friday, November 15.
DC Aimee Scott-Molloy, from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team (ICAT), said: “Ian Wraith has a history of possessing huge quantities of indecent images of children. His continued efforts to do so in spite of court orders against him and previous prison sentences shows his flagrant disregard for the law and the risk he poses to young people.
“It must not be understated that behind every indecent image of a child is a vulnerable victim, and these crimes are among the most appalling that police can investigate.
“ICAT are a specialist team dedicated to targeting those who use the perceived anonymity of the internet to cause serious harm to children. It is challenging work but we are committed to removing dangerous people like Wraith from the streets so we can protect children.”