A dad-of-two who passed on indecent pictures of children to friends will be sentenced in the summer.

Maxwel da Silva Miranda, 28, pleaded guilty last week to distributing a category A indecent image of children, distributing it three times and downloading another two extreme pornographic images showing people having sex with animals.

The distribution offence was committed in July 2021 just weeks after a judge at Oxford Crown Court handed him a community order for groping a 16-year-old girl while he gave a lift to her and her friends after picking them up in east Oxford.

READ MORE: 'Sex pest' Miranda gets community order for sex assaults

Miranda, of Chillingworth Crescent, Oxford, had been due to be sentenced by Judge Nigel Daly on Wednesday, with the probation service writing an update about his compliance with the community order before he was remanded late last year.

The Wood Farm man’s barrister, Gordana Austin, asked the judge to put the matter back until the conclusion of unrelated court matters in August.

Judge Daly agreed, remanding him in custody until August 22 when he will be sentenced.

Last June, when the dad-of-two was sentenced for sexual touching, Judge Michael Gledhill QC said he’d be ‘perfectly justified’ in sending Miranda to prison – were it not for the fact he had to following the Sentencing Council’s guidelines.

Imposing the community order, the judge said: “[The] offence of sexual assault has to be seen in the context of what you were doing over the prolonged period of time that you were in and around the area.

“You were leaving the area, returning, approaching the girls, leaving again, back again.

“You’re a sex pest. That is what you were doing that night, sexually attracted to these young girls.”

READ MORE: Jail for rapist who filmed vile abuse of teen victim

Another judge, the Recorder of Oxford Judge Ian Pringle QC, last week warned the Miranda he was only looking at going to one place – jail – for the distribution offence.

And that was echoed by Judge Daly on Wednesday, who told Miranda’s barrister: “Given there is a starting point of three years for the distribution of class A child pornography, if he is remanded in custody it’s not going to make much difference. He is going to be serving that which he will inevitably get.”

The charge for which Miranda has pleaded guilty, distributing a category A indecent image of a child, carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a starting point of three.

The defendant remains a sex offender, having been placed on the register as a result of his conviction last year for assault.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward