Malton paedophile Stephen Garside jailed for downloading 300,000 indecent images of children

Stephen Garside, 58, from Malton, was arrested after police searched his home and workplace locker, York Crown Court heard.

They seized electronic devices on which they found 333,528 vile images of children.

Officers also found 115 extreme pornography images and 66 prohibited or cartoon images of minors, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.

She said that Garside had also distributed some of the images to like-minded individuals and had used special software to download the material and cover his tracks.

Garside, of Saxon Drive, Rillington, was charged with three counts of making indecent images, one count of distributing indecent material and possessing prohibited and extreme pornographic images. He admitted all six offences and appeared for sentence today (March 17).

Ms Morrison said police swooped on Garside’s home in Malton in July 2020 when they seized several internet devices. Officers then turned up at his workplace where they seized further devices from his locker.

Analysis of the devices showed that Garside had been downloading indecent images for more than 12 years.

His warped collection included 415 photos and videos rated Category A – the worst kind of such material involving the sexual abuse of children.

Ms Morrison said that forensic analysis of the devices showed that Garside had been downloading the illicit material since 2008.

Garside had also distributed some of the Category C images “on at least two occasions” using “well-known apps”.

He also kept a physical photo album of some of the images which he had printed out and placed in his debauched “collection”. Police found this album at his home.

“He didn’t know these children and couldn’t explain why he had printed off these images,” said Ms Morrison.

She said there were hundreds of videos in the sordid collection and “reference to children as young as two in the images”.

Garside, who chose to be unrepresented in court, offered nothing in mitigation for his odious crimes.

Judge Deborah Sherwin told him: “This offending is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence is justified.”

Garside was jailed for 18 months, but he will only serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order to curb his internet activities. That order will run for an indefinite period.