A 36-year-old man from Brecon, Powys, has been sentenced for possessing a large collection of child sex abuse images over a period of more than nine years. Gavin Davies-Jones, of St Johns Road, admitted to making 1,684 Category C, 234 Category B, and 298 Category A indecent images of children, as well as 50 prohibited images. The offences occurred between 2 August 2014 and 23 November 2023 at his home address.
The images, some featuring the 'most extreme' sexual abuse against children as young as four to six years old, were stored in files named such as 'paedo collection'. Davies-Jones had pleaded guilty to the four charges at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates' Court in April. During his sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court last week, the court heard that he claimed to derive 'no sexual gratification' from the material and deleted it immediately after downloading.
Prosecutor Thomas Scapens stated in court: 'In interview, he accepted all of the offending, but he denied that he would look at any of the videos or images that he downloaded, saying that he would delete them right away. He went on to say he got no sexual gratification from the images, that they did not excite him.'
In mitigation, defence counsel Martha Smith-Higgins highlighted that Davies-Jones was of previous good character, expressed remorse, and had lost his job as a result of the offences. Judge Vanessa Francis addressed the defendant directly, saying: 'You are someone who has a sexual interest in children. It is also apparent that you are struggling to come to terms with the fact that that is true and you need to do work on that in order to prevent it from happening again in the future.'
The judge emphasised the severity of the case, noting: 'It is clear that you have been offending for a very long period of time and you have found ways in your own mind to make it ok that you are downloading these images and that you are sexually attracted to children - these proceedings must prove to you that it cannot be right.' She further described the images as featuring 'some of the most extreme nature of sexual abuse being carried out on children', aggravated by the duration, volume, and attempts to conceal the activity.
Davies-Jones received concurrent suspended sentences of 10 months for Category A images, six months for Category B, two months for Category C, and two months for prohibited images, all suspended for 18 months. Additional requirements include 40 days of rehabilitation activity and a two-month curfew from 10pm to 6am. He was added to the sex offenders' register for 10 years, ordered to pay £150 in court costs and a £187 victim surcharge, and his mobile phone and laptop were forfeited and destroyed. An application for a sexual harm prevention order is scheduled for 15 August. Judge Francis concluded: 'I hope this is the first and last time everyone will see you in court.'
The case was reported by the County Times, based on proceedings at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.