Convicted rapist Gareth Reader downloaded bestiality pornography
A convicted rapist who downloaded extreme
pornography showing bestiality has escaped a jail sentence.
Gareth Reader had three video clips
of a woman indulging in sex acts with a dog on a memory stick which
had been used in a computer.
The USB stick was in the back of a
police vehicle when Reader was taken to a police station for an
unrelated matter.
The 32-year-old pervert was jailed
for 10 years in 1999 for the sex attack on a woman, who awoke in
her bedroom in Sittingbourne to find him armed with an iron
bar.
Reader, formerly of Wallis Avenue,
Parkwood, Maidstone, but now living in Medway, admitted possessing
extreme pornographic images between November 26 and December 4 last
year.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that
the films had a total duration of about 40 minutes.
Prosecutor Iestyn Morgan said
Reader, who has also lived in Victoria Street, Gillingham,
initially denied the USB stick belonged to him.
Reader, whose daughter died in a
house fire in Maidstone in 2007, admitted possessing the images and
was sentenced to 24 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years with
supervision. He will have to attend an “offending behaviour
programme”.
Judge Philip Statman said the case
could be distinguished from the “library type case”.
“Were I to pass a short custodial
sentence this case merits with a short period of time you would be
back on the streets and there would have been no intervention to
see what help can be given to you in the future,” he said.
“The sentence will deter but also
give you some hope for the future. You must understand if in the
course of the next two years you feel you should engage in sexual
gratification by downloading images of this kind I will sent you to
prison, and believe me it will not be just for a matter of
months.
“You will be measuring the sentence
in years. Think about that sentence every time your thoughts stray
from the straight and narrow.”
Louise Oakley, defending, said
Reader was a teenager when he went to prison for the rape offence
and was released when he was 25.
“From that moment on he has
complied with his licence.”
Reader had to move out of his home
in Parkwood after vigilantes forced their way in. He was deemed
high priority for fresh housing.
“He has had a very turbulent number
of years,” said Miss Oakley. “In 2007, his daughter was killed in a
house fire in the family home.
“In 2011, he separated from his
wife. There were seven children from the relationship. That is a
year he very much regrets. He has never been able to shake off his
previous conviction.
“That year, he hit the bottom of
the barrel. He began to drink to excess and use drugs. He has
addressed those issues. He has made genuine attempts to turn his
life around."
Reader’s name will appear on the
sex offenders’ register and he is banned from working with children
or vulnerable adults.
12/03/13
- Click here for more Medway news...
- Click here for more news from across the county...