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Sex offender downloads child pr0n to get back into prison

A purely practical measure

A novel approach to finding accommodation was revealed by a convicted sex offender this week – as it was explained in court on Monday that he had downloaded child porn in order to be sent back to prison.

David Clark, 54, of Willington Green in Maidstone complained to all and sundry - including his MP - that despite his putting in scores of applications for a council house, he had achieved no result.

Clark, who had previously been jailed for four-and-a-half years in respect of two separate serious sex offences in 1997 and 2004, was then so annoyed by the the lack of progress that he decided to go looking for images of naked pre-pubescent and pubescent girls in sexual poses.

According to Clark, he was aware that the police would check his laptop, at which point he would be sent back to prison. When the police did catch up with him, in August 2009, he had been living in temporary accommodation in Maidstone for two years.

Clark later went back on this, denying three counts of possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornography: to wit, a person engaging in sexual intercourse with a live animal, believed to have been a horse.

In Maidstone Magistrates’ Court earlier this week, he changed his mind yet again. He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing indecent images of children, while the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the third indecent image charge and extreme image charge due to lack of evidence.

Kent Online reports that Diane Ginever, appearing for the prosecution, said police who visited Clark’s address originally found child porn on his computer – and forensic analysis revealed additional images.

She said: "He was depressed over his inability to find a permanent home and wanted to go back to prison. He admitted he had searched the internet for child pornography in an effort to become arrested.

"He visited between 200 and 300 sites over two nights."

Speaking for the defence, Paul Greene, told the court: "He was trying to find a council house. He would find an appropriate property but it would come to nothing.

"It was not done for personal gratification."

Magistrates released Clark on bail pending sentencing next month. He is now subject to an interim sexual offences order which bans him from associating with children under 16 and using the internet.

On the brighter side, however, the magistrates warned Mr Clark – who now has a home - he could be sent to jail. ®

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