A porn-addict began looking at explicit images of underage teens ‘for the thrill of it’, a court heard.

Daniel Holliday received a ‘knock at the door’ from detectives in last year, after police received intelligence that someone at the property had been looking at indecent images of children.

The 31-year-old was out at the time and the door was answered by his partner. He went to the police station later that day and denied he had been looking at illegal material online.

The lie was unmasked when the Acer computer, Asus laptop and iPhone 11 seized during the visit were analysed.

Officers found two videos and eight still indecent images in the most serious category, six in category B and 48 in category C. He had a further 48 bestiality images showing people having sex with animals. The children in the images were generally 12-years-old or older. He had searched the net for the illegal material.

Prosecutor Mark Hunsley said Holliday came clean in his second interview with officers. “He explained that he had effectively been addicted, if I can use the word, to ‘mainstream’ pornography and he had moved on to these sorts of images for the thrill and excitement of it.”

At the time the images were collected he had been struggling with alcohol addiction, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Holliday represented himself at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday morning after issues with securing Legal Aid left him lawyer-less.

He said of his offending: “I wasn’t aware of the moral side of it. I portrayed it as a victimless crime.

“Since the knock at that door I have done as much as I possibly can to educate myself [about] why these offences create demand.”

He detailed how he had read two books on pornography addiction, undertaken eight counselling sessions and read widely online including on the website of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity aimed at educating those looking at indecent images of children.

He had been unable to complete a final two counselling sessions as he had moved away. He told the judge: “It is something I really want to revisit because there is, obviously, a reason why this has happened and I need to understand it so I can prevent it from ever happening again.”

He added: “I would never harm a child.”

“That’s the difficulty,” Recorder Michael Roques replied. “By looking at these images it does cause harm to children. That’s the problem.” Without a market for the material, children would not be abused for the camera, he said.

Holliday, of Rosemary Drive, Banbury, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession of indecent images and extreme pornographic material

The judge said he would take an ‘exceptional’ course and impose a three year community order as a direct alternative to prison. He must do the Horizon sex offender education programme, up to 30 probation sessions and 60 hours of unpaid work.

He will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and be placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

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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

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