Telford man caught with pictures of children being abused walks free from court
A pervert mechanic who was caught with images of babies being sexually abused on his phone has avoided prison.
Aaron Clapperton, aged 21, had recently turned 18 when police knocked his door and seized his device, discovering "awful" images of abuse.
Experts found images of babies as young as three months being subjected to sex acts with adult men.
However, despite Clapperton's offences passing the custody threshold, he was given a "lenient" sentence, walking free from court with his liberty intact.
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that police went to Clapperton's address on March 18, 2021 due to information they had received that he had uploaded images to photo-sharing website Tumblr.
Clapperton lived at the address with three family members, and police seized all devices from the property.
It was discovered on Clapperton's Samsung Galaxy Note that he had downloaded a photo-sharing app called Cluster, which has "an emphasis on privacy," prosecutor Caroline Harris told the court.
