A MAN who downloaded more than 1,000 indecent images of children over a 17-year-period has been jailed for two years.
The youngest child featured in the indecent images found on Patrick Joseph Huard’s computer was just three years old, the Royal Court heard yesterday.
The 58-year-old downloaded the images – of which more than 100 were ranked as the most serious Category A – on five devices.
Crown Advocate Luke Sette, prosecuting, told the court that the earliest images found on Huard’s device dated from November 2005.
When the States police searched the defendant’s home on 30 September last year, they found a total of 1,271 indecent images of children under 16 years of age on his computers.
The advocate said that had Huard initially told police officers during an interview that ‘he’d click away and find things he shouldn’t find’.
‘Mr Huard said that he viewed the images out of disbelief and curiosity,’ said Advocate Sette.
But when Huard appeared in the Magistrate’s Court in May, he entered guilty pleas to all charges.
Advocate James Bell, defending, said: ‘He really is ashamed of his actions. He offers his sincere apologies to the court. He’s still trying to make sense of what he’s done.’
There were ‘significant gaps’ between Huard looking at the indecent images between 2005 and 2022, and the offending was ‘sporadic’, according to Advocate Bell.
He added that Huard had suffered with his mental and physical health and that ‘the poor choices he made were to alleviate his mind’.
Advocate Bell also said that his client was of previous good character.
Huard was jailed for three counts of making indecent images of children.
Speaking following the sentencing, Detective Constable Daniel Grigoras, from the Criminal Investigation Department, said: ‘These are not victimless crimes. These sorts of images cause real harm to real children and the viewing and making of indecent images like these creates demand and so leads to further abuse.
‘We won’t tolerate any form of abuse against children, and the States of Jersey Police are committed to target those who offend in this way.’
The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, was presiding and sitting with Jurats Steven Austin-Vautier and David Le Heuzé.
