Notorious Scarborough man jailed for five years for extreme online sex offences

Christopher Holroyd, 51, was arrested after police swooped on his home and seized his mobile phone, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Philip Standfast said that Holroyd’s then partner contacted police to say she had seen indecent images on his phone.

Forensic analysis of the phone showed that Holroyd had downloaded more than 150 indecent images of children, one of which he had shared online.

Of the 152 images found on the phone, 24 were rated Category A – the worst kind of such material involving the sexual abuse of children.

Data on the phone also showed that Holroyd had sex chats with what appeared to be a girl who told him she was 14 years’ old, added Mr Standfast.

Holroyd urged ‘her’ to expose intimate parts of her body and carry out a sexual act on herself, although it was suspected that the ‘girl’ was an adult engaging in sexual “fantasy” chat.

Police found another sordid online conversation with another individual who said ‘she’ was the mother of a four-year-old girl.

However, this individual turned out to be a man “using his wife’s details to appear to be a female”.

During the “increasingly explicit” conversation, the man told Holroyd he had carried out a sex act on his young daughter, whereupon Holroyd asked him to send him a naked picture of the four-year-old and asked the man if he could carry out a sex act on the girl.

Holroyd was arrested on May 10 and taken in for questioning but denied having a sexual interest in children.

“He said the online conversations were fantasy and online role-playing,” said Mr Standfast.

Holroyd, of North Marine Road, was charged with making indecent images of children, distributing a Category C indecent image, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause a child to be sexually exploited. He appeared for sentence today (Friday, December 9).

Mr Standfast said Holroyd had 104 previous offences on his record including burglary and drug supply, which resulted in lengthy prison sentences, but nothing for sexual offences.

Defence barrister Anastasis Tasou said that Holroyd had an alcohol problem which had played a “significant disinhibiting role” in his nefarious online activities.

He said no actual children were involved in the online chats and that there was a “degree of fantasy” to Holroyd’s behaviour.

Mr Tasou said it was his understanding that the 14-year-old ‘girl’ was in fact an adult, but the prosecution insisted that Holroyd believed this person to be a female child.

Judge Sean Morris said Holroyd had a “bad” criminal record and that the offences were so serious only an immediate jail sentence could be justified.

Holroyd will serve half of the five-year sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life and made subject to a five-year sexual-harm prevention order to curb his online activities.