Judge Sean Morris sentenced Ryan Purvis Whitby Paedophile, 29, to six months in prison today (Oct 1), noting that the Hawsker resident would have received a term twice as long had the case not taken a “unacceptable” three-and-a-half years to reach trial.
Mr. Morris, the Recorder of York, stated that he assigned no culpability to the police for the excessive delay but insisted that cases of this nature—featuring photographs of child sexual abuse—should be expedited to court to ensure the administration of justice.
The judge cautioned that a failure to provide the police with the resources to expedite case processing will render the court unable of imposing quick prison sentences.
He expressed his views following the incarceration of Ryan Purvis for the creation and dissemination of obscene photos of minors.
Certain photographs were classified as Category A, representing the most egregious type of content related to the sexual exploitation of minors.
Ryan Purvis, who worked as a cabler for an energy company, was arrested in April 2021 when police swooped on his home after receiving intelligence that he was uploading indecent images on the internet.
Prosecutor Christopher Bevan said officers seized two mobile phones on which they found 102 indecent photos and videos of children, some as young as five years of age.
Of these, 58 were Category A videos and five were Category A photos.
Forensic officers also found 16 “extreme pornography” images.
He was charged with three counts of making indecent images, two counts of distributing illicit material, one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child and possession of “extreme pornography”.
He admitted all the offences and appeared for sentence today.
Defence barrister Rhianydd Clement said that Ryan Purvis had now “lost his good character” due to the offences which had led to the breakdown of a long-term relationship.
Judge Mr Morris condemned Ryan Purvis for “the distribution of foul videos of children”.
He added: “I’m afraid for distribution, an immediate prison sentence has to follow, but this (case) is three-and-a-half years old, which is unacceptable, so I’m going to reduce the sentence.”
Ryan Purvis received a six-month jail sentence, roughly half of what he would have received if the case had reached court in a timely fashion, and which was reduced further for the current overcrowding in British prisons.
He will only serve half of that time behind bars before being released on prison licence.
After jailing Ryan Purvis, Mr Morris warned that the strain on police resources meant that it was becoming more difficult to ensure that such cases, which required forensic analysis of devices, reached court in good time.
He added: “Because of the delay in this case, (the defendant’s) sentence has been cut in half.
“To take three-and-a-half years to get a case before the courts – a case that is a guilty plea – means that it is unjust.
“It is not the fault of the police…but something is going to have to be done to get these cases analysed quicker, otherwise for distributing indecent images like this case, the sentences are literally going to be slashed.
“Three-and-a-half years from arrest to court is not acceptable.”
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