Eckington man admits having almost 40 pornographic images of children found on a memory stick at his home

Gary John Bottomley appeared before Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on Monday, October 26, where he admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of a child between March 11, 2019, and March 13, 2020.

The 67-year-old also admitted a fourth charge of possessing extreme pornographic images of someone engaged in sexual acts with horses and dogs.

Prosecuting, Becky Allsop told the court: “He was arrested in March after police received information that the IP address on his computer had been accessing extreme images of children.

“They had been sent through a chat room and he had saved them on a USB stick to look at them later.

“He said it was a novelty and a titillation, but that he was later disgusted by this.”

Defending, Ben Strelley said that Bottomley, of Church Street, Eckington, had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity but halted mitigation when District Judge Jonathan Taaffe said that he planned to send the case to Derby Crown Court for sentencing.

Judge Taaffe told Bottomley: “These are not victimless crimes - the fact that these images were made and shared, it encourages people to make them and it encourages the abuse of children.”

Bottomley will next appear before Derby Crown Court on November 16 when a date for sentencing is expected to be set by a judge.

He was released on unconditional bail and placed on the sex offenders register.

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