A 77-year-old convicted paedophile from Walsall has been fined more than £1,300 after breaching a court order designed to monitor his internet use.
Gerard Carty, of Carlton Avenue, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday, September 3, where he admitted three counts of breach of a sexual harm prevention order. He was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay £150 costs.
The order was imposed in February 2020, when Carty was sentenced for three counts of making indecent images of children. Prosecutor Pat Kelly told the court that the order, which remains in force until further order, required Carty to register his electronic devices with police, prohibited him from installing software capable of hiding his internet search activity, and barred him from using cloud storage without notifying officers.
Dropbox alert leads to arrest
On November 4 last year, West Midlands Police's crime sexual exploitation team was notified by Dropbox that Carty's account had apparently 'uploaded indecent images of children'.
Carty was arrested at his home, where officers seized an iPhone and iPad – neither of which had been registered with police. The court also heard that a virtual private network (VPN) had been installed on the devices.
During an interview at Bloxwich police station, Carty provided a prepared statement in which he claimed he had not accessed Dropbox since 2018. However, Mr Kelly said Carty had recently received an email from the platform stating his account was full, and he had accessed the account and then deleted it.
Defence and sentencing
Carty accepted that he had not registered the devices, which he said he used for online banking, and that he 'feared' they would be seized. Philip Brunt, defending, said Carty 'did not realise' what a VPN was.
Sentencing, Judge Hobson noted there was 'nothing untoward' on Carty's devices and that there was 'no suggestion he accessed indecent images of children' on this occasion or that 'there was any risk of that'. However, she said Carty 'disobeyed' the judge who previously sentenced him by breaching the sexual harm prevention order.
The fine and costs order were imposed after the judge said she wanted to 'teach him a lesson' for the breaches.
