Sexually abused Mansfield man downloaded child porn 'to make him feel better about himself'

Brett Vaughan appeared before Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, May 4, after admitting three counts of possessing indecent images of children at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on April 13.

The court heard that police raided the 32-year-old’s home and discovered a raft of still images and videos on a computer tower, with images downloaded in October 2014 and more in April 2019.

The images discovered were found to be of Classes A - the most extreme - to Class C, following police analysis, the court heard.

The court heard that Vaughan, of Chaffinch Close, Mansfield, told police that he had been sexually abused as a child and had downloaded the images to make him feel better about himself, rather than for sexual gratification.

Sentencing him, Recorder Jason Macadam told him: “A great number of images were discovered, both moving and still.

“Your mother must be devastated that her son has committed offences like this but I’m not going to send you to prison today.

“You made full admissions to the police and you claim to have been sexually abused as a child, and you downloaded this pornography as a way to make you feel better about yourself, rather than for your own sexual gratification.”

Vaughan was given a 36-month community order to include a specialist programme for sexual offenders. He was also given a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which will severely restrict his access to the internet.

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