A depraved city Worcester paedophile, Joshua Bone, possessing abhorrent sexual photographs of children as young as two being assaulted is now incarcerated after incurring significant costs to taxpayers.
Corrupt Joshua Bone of Worcester hesitated, acknowledging the download of ‘ghastly’ photos from the ‘black web’ before attempting to evade culpability, even consulting ‘experts’ in a cynical effort to evade retribution.
Consequently, it has taken four years from the date of his offences to his final admissions and sentencing at Worcester Crown Court yesterday, a delay that has incurred costs to the taxpayer amounting to ‘thousands’ at a time when public finances are already severely strained because to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Judge Nicolas Cartwright sentenced Joshua Bone to 50 weeks of incarceration, stating that Bone’s conduct throughout the ‘protracted history’ of the case demonstrated his absence of remorse and indicated that he could not be rehabilitated within the community, thus ordering his immediate imprisonment.
The 29-year-old resident, Joshua Bone, of Toulouse Drive, Norton, Worcester, confessed to producing 21 indecent photos of minors classified as category A, the most severe category, between February 17 and April 17, 2017.
He also acknowledged creating two indecent photographs classified as category B and three classified as category C. Except for two photographs, all were films instead of stills, an exasperating aspect of the case, compounded by the number of youngsters being molested and their ages, which the judge characterised as ‘so tragically young and defenceless.’
Judge Cartwright characterised certain films in open court, using details that are very graphic to fully disclose. He informed the court that several of the movies were approximately one hour in duration, bearing titles such as ‘Lolita’ and ‘four-year-old,’ and depicted youngsters enduring penetrative sexual abuse.
One video documented the rape of a two-year-old kid, while another depicted a ten-year-old girl restrained to a seat and subjected to sexual assault. Some depicted children being abused by multiple adults, while others presented collections of various youngsters being molested.
The assaulted children were aged two, four, six, ten, eleven, and thirteen years.
The defendant, Joshua Bone, with little emotion upon learning of his impending incarceration, stated during an interview: “It’s the dark web for a reason – it’s dreadful.”
Judge Cartwright stated: “The offences associated with the viewing, creation, or distribution of such images are consistently deemed extremely serious, as they involve real children who are subjected to horrific sexual crimes, which are recorded for dissemination to individuals with an interest in such material.”
The judge also addressed the physical and psychological damage inflicted on children by such maltreatment. He informed Joshua Bone that they grow up aware that the ‘atrocious offences perpetrated on them will persist on the internet indefinitely, throughout their lives and beyond.’
He asserted that without individuals like Joshua Bone downloading these photographs, there would be no demand, and it is the demand that propels the supply, so exacerbating the abuse.
Andrew Wilkins, for the prosecution, stated that the case was brought to court after a search of Bone’s residence in July 2017, subsequent to a police investigation into a website called Paradise Village.
During the search, officers confiscated a Dell computer tower containing the photographs. Mr. Wilkins stated: “He was interrogated regarding the issue in July and October 2017.” The procedures commenced in April 2018. The duration to reach this stage has been extensive.
The initial benchmark in the sentencing guidelines is one year of jail, with a range for the sentencing judge extending from 26 weeks to three years.
Daniel Oscroft, in defence, requested that Joshua Bone receive acknowledgement for his guilty pleas. “I acknowledge on his behalf that it is late,” he stated.
He stated, “At that time, the defendant’s life was disintegrating.” He was misusing alcohol and narcotics. He maintained a toxic relationship with his family, resulting in his partner’s departure.
Judge Cartwright mandated the confiscation and destruction of the computer tower that housed the photos. He also mandated Joshua Bone to remit a payment of 2,000 towards costs due to the extensive number of hearings resulting from the defendant’s refusal to acknowledge his guilt.
The judge stated: “This constitutes merely a minor portion of the overall expense to the taxpayer, as the court has evidently been engaged on numerous occasions, resulting in a considerable expenditure on what ultimately proved to be entirely superfluous expert reports that you have relentlessly sought, despite your initial admission during the interview regarding this matter that you had accessed the images on your computer.”
This sum must be reimbursed over a two-year period. Judge Cartwright additionally mandated a sexual harm prevention order for a duration of 10 years. This limits Bone’s access to the internet and devices, as well as his interactions with children.
Joshua Bone is required to provide any devices to a monitoring police officer upon request for inspection, must refrain from deleting his search history, must not install anti-forensic software, and must not use social media to communicate with any individual under the age of 16.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.