A perverted man, Mark Threlfall Accrington Paedophile owned more than 60,000 explicit images of children has been jailed for his deviant crime against children. Mark Threlfall, 62, had organised the images into specialised folders with accompanying thumbnails.
He appeared at Preston Crown Court having pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing indecent photographs of children and one extreme pornographic image – which was a person performing a sex act with an animal.
His vile offending was uncovered as part of a National Crime Agency investigation which led officers to his address, in Blackburn Road.
Mark Threlfall was responsible for downloading more than 2,700 Category A images, the most extreme, 3,000 Category B images and more than 52,000 Category C images.
Within the category A offences videos were found of children as young as six being abused.
A total of 43 devices were seized from his address, with 29 found to contain indecent images or could not be accessed.
Only five of these devices, deemed to be the ones the defendant used primarily, were searched by the National Crime Agency.
The prosecution, Mahdev Singh Sachdev, outlined the aggravating factors including the vulnerability of the children depicted, the high volume of images, and the collection which included videos and images.
Further forensic investigation by the crime agency uncovered searches made by Mark Threlfall related to child sex abuse.
During the hearing a letter written by Mark Threlfall was read to the court, in which he said he was abused as a child, but is now 60 and “it is no excuse” for his actions.
The letter went on: “I have never touched any kids I just watched the [videos].
“I have never touched a child, I knew that was wrong and I thought you couldn’t trace things on the dark web.”
Hana Ahmed, in mitigation, said he was sexually abused as a child by a nurse, which was said to have impacted him his entire life.
Judge Graham Knowles said: “This collection amassed over eight years included videos with a combined running time of 327 hours.
“When you were arrested in 2023 you said amongst other things that you had been abused as a child but that was no excuse.
“I accept that you were sexually abused and the report of the family dynamics which prevented you from speaking out about it as a child and the general nature of your upbringing.”
Mrs Ahmed said Mark Threlfall was scared of prison, and he has acknowledged his offending and had counselling sessions to address his mental health, and is remorseful.
Passing sentence, Judge Knowles said: “You were bored and spent your time on the internet with sexual gratification becoming a pastime, with child pornography reawakening your sexual arousal.
“The more you viewed it the more you became desensitised.”
Mark Threlfall was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
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