Darren Ernest Clarence Roberts

A paedophile from Blackburn has been jailed after police discovered indecent images of young children on his mobile phone during a routine check. Darren Ernest Clarence Roberts, 51, who resides at Jay’s B and B on Bolton Road, was already on the sex offenders register for life following a conviction in 1999 for sexual offences involving children. Despite previous rehabilitation efforts, including a Kaizen course, Roberts continued to engage in prohibited online activities.

On 21 January 2020, officers from Lancashire Police visited Roberts as part of his mandatory monitoring under the sexual harm prevention order. During the inspection of his devices, they uncovered 72 indecent images of children, with some victims as young as four years old. The majority of the images were obtained via cache files from websites Roberts had visited, while two were deliberately downloaded and saved directly to his phone. Roberts initially claimed the images were pre-existing on the second-hand device he had purchased from Cash Generator in Accrington, but Recorder Nicholas Clarke QC dismissed this explanation, stating it was implausible that a seller would not have factory reset the phone beforehand.

Prosecutor Neil Fryman highlighted that Roberts had failed to notify police about acquiring the new phone, breaching the terms of his prevention order. Roberts admitted to discussing with his probation worker whether he could view images of 18- and 19-year-old boys instead of younger teens, claiming the worker had approved it. However, the probation service clarified that they had only recalled the conversation and actively tried to deter him from such searches. Just two days before the police visit, Roberts had installed specialist software to delete evidence of his searches for 'gay teen porn'.

Roberts pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to three counts of possession of an indecent photograph of a child and one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image. In mitigation, his defence counsel Alison Whalley presented two psychiatric reports from October and November, asserting that Roberts did not pose an immediate danger to the community as he had not contacted young boys directly. She noted his remorse, quoting him as saying, 'If I could turn the clock back knowing what I know now I would not have committed the offences and I am remorseful.' Despite a request for a suspended sentence, Recorder Clarke ruled that only a custodial term was appropriate, citing Roberts' extensive criminal record related to child offences and his deliberate disregard for advice against viewing such material.

Roberts was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, with post-release supervision required. He will remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years, though he is already subject to lifelong registration. The judge remarked, 'You have an extensive criminal record specifically relating to offences involving children. Attempts have been made to rehabilitate you in the community to stop you offending in this way. It’s clear that you have continued to search for gay teen porn against the advice you have been given. It is clear that you have viewed some of the images online but also downloaded some of the images online in a purposeful act.'