A COURT has heard how a boy who was caught aged just 14 with a sick collection of child rape photos has ‘matured since’.

The defendant – who cannot and must not be named or identified due to legal reasons because of his age – was recently sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court.

The now-17-year-old, of the Warrington area, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, by downloading them.

He also admitted possessing indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornographic images portraying an act likely to result in serious injury.

James Gore, prosecuting for the Crown Prosecution Service, explained how the offences were committed in Warrington, but date back to 2021.

The boy was found to be in possession of a total of 202 indecent images of children being sexually abused.

Of these, 31 were graded as category A – the most severe category involving child rape – while 49 were in category B, and 122 were in category C.

Moreover, authorities found one image which was classed as ‘extreme pornography’, involving an act which resulted or was likely to result in serious injury to a person's ‘private parts’.

Considering all that was said about the defendant, magistrates sentenced him to a 12-month youth referral order.

Such orders are community sentences most often used by the courts when dealing with juvenile offenders, requiring rehabilitative and restorative elements to be completed.

Magistrates highlighted that the offences were serious, but that they were committed some time ago.

It was said that the defendant has no previous convictions, has committed no offences since and has ‘matured since’, with reference made to him being ‘clearly in a dark place at the time and has since learned’.

In addition, he was ordered to pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £85 and a surcharge of £26.