'Vile' crimes of child porn man

John Wright, 49, formerly of Kingsmead Way, appeared at Lewes Magistrates' Court on Monday for sentencing on 24 charges of possessing indecent photographs of children.

Wright had pleaded guilty to all charges at a previous hearing.

Kate Heffernan, prosecuting, told the court how the porn was found on Wright's works computer during a random check by his employer American Express.

It tipped-off police who raided Wright's Seaford house and found more explicit images of children on his home computer.

Stewart Grace, defending, said Wright's life had been shattered by the charges. Until the porn was discovered his client, a divorcee with no children, had led a 'blameless life', he said.

His social life, which had revolved around organising quizzes at a Seaford pub, had come to an end once the charges had become public.

He had been sacked from his job as a senior business analyst and the only member of his family who remained in contact with him was his 80-year-old mother.

Mr Grace said: 'Mr Wright's life has been devastated by this. He knows it is his own fault.

'He has humiliated himself.'

In mitigation the lawyer argued the images, which were of pre-pubescent girls, were at the 'lower-end' of the obscenity scale as they did not show the victims being physically abused.

Magistrates' chairman Meryll Dean said in sentencing: 'These are vile and despicable crimes you have committed involving the exploitation of children.'

She added: 'Society expects we deal with people in an appropriate manner in order to reflect the horror of what you have been involved in.'

However, she said magistrates had decided on treatment rather than a jail term.

Wright, who gave his address as the Grand Ocean Hotel, Saltdean, was sentenced to a three-year community rehabilitation order, placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years and ordered to attend a sex offenders' group programme in Brighton.

He was also instructed to pay 75 costs.