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A man who went to the police to admit he had indecent images of children on his iPad has been spared jail for his "full and frank admission".
After being locked out of his Google Drive account, David Bonnar (53) went to police headquarters and admitted having “images he shouldn’t have”, the Royal Court heard.
Bonnar was sentenced to 312 hours of community service for possessing a total of 48 indecent images – one category A, the most serious, two category B, and 45 category C.
Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said: “He had, in effect, been caught by Google.”
Bonnar admitted that the pictures showed girls who were nude or in bikinis, Advocate Hallam said. “A few of them depicted sexual acts.”
Bonnar also spoke to a 14-year-old in a chatroom and when he became aware of the girl’s age, Advocate Hallam said that “he didn’t shut it down” and instead “asked what she looked like and she sent a photograph”.
Advocate Hallam added: “The defendant said he kept the pictures so that he could distribute them to others, describing them as ‘currency’.”
Given that the number of pictures was considered small – “small” applying to any number under 100 – she recommended a two-year prison sentence.
Advocate Stephen Wauchope, defending, insisted there were “exceptional circumstances” in the case.
He said: “Mr Bonnar handed himself in to the States of Jersey Police.
“He handed himself in with all the indecent images in his possession.
“At no point did Mr Bonnar decline to answer questions. He gave a very frank, full and candid interview.
“He shopped himself. He wrote his own indictment.”
Of the category A and B images, he added: “We are not talking about the youngest children. We are talking about the older age bracket, of 14 to 16.”
Announcing Bonnar’s sentence, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said: “You made the job of the police and the prosecution that much easier.
“The images were voluntarily delivered to the police by you.”
He added: “You have made a full and frank admission.”
Jurats Gareth Hughes and Andrew Cornish were sitting.
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