A sex offender, Lucas Banton Daybrook Paedophile, has been incarcerated following the discovery of child sexual abuse photographs in his possession.
At 23 years of age, Lucas Banton was implicated when an email address associated with him was utilised to upload two indecent videos of minors on the internet.
In February 2023, officers from Nottinghamshire Police visited his residence and confiscated two electronic devices.
A forensic investigation of one of the devices uncovered 60 Category A photos and films, each illustrating the gravest sexual offences perpetrated by adults against children.
Lucas Banton faced various charges and remained on police bail while investigations were ongoing.
During a follow up monitoring visit nine months later, he admitted to downloading and seeing thousands of additional photographs.
An analysis of his mobile phone revealed about 17,000 indecent photographs, almost 200 of which were classified as Category A.
Lucas Banton, residing on Byron Street in Daybrook, subsequently admitted guilt to six charges of producing indecent photos of minors.
He also confessed to three further charges of producing indecent pictures and assaulting an emergency personnel. These offences were perpetrated in 2022.
Lucas Banton was sentenced to 33 months in prison at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday.
Detective Constable Peter Chappell, from the Nottinghamshire Police’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit, stated:
“Behind every one of these images is a real child somewhere in the world who has endured the most appalling sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
“Each has had their childhood stolen from them and each will live with the life-long physical and emotional impact of what has happened to them.
“People like Banton may not be committing this abuse themselves, but they are directly contributing to this suffering by consuming this appalling material.
“As Banton has just found out to his cost, the end result of this behaviour is very likely to be a prison sentence, so I hope this case serves as a warning to others who may be thinking of searching for such material.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.