Back in 2020, a South Ham Paedophile, 45, Keith Sayer, from Basingstoke, was discovered with almost 178,000 photos of child sexual assault, including those of newborns and toddlers, according to court proceedings.
Keith Sayer amassed a collection of photos, organised on a network of 19 devices, USB drives, and hard discs, employing a “deliberate and systematic” file system that inflicted “immeasurable” harm on infants and children “globally”.
The court was informed that his collection commenced immediately upon his release from prison, where he had been previously convicted for possessing obscene photos of children. In 2014, he received a 16-month prison sentence.
The 39-year-old acknowledged that he was “ill” and “obsessed,” informing a doctor that he devoted five hours daily to viewing the photographs and videos.
Keith Sayer, previously residing on Bolton Crescent in South Ham, was discovered with six paedophile manuals, along with cable ties, masking tape, bungee cords, children’s colouring sets, and a newspaper item regarding a child’s abduction.
Prosecutor Sophie Chaplain said at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday that these items were discovered during a police raid on his bedsit.
Authorities were initially alerted in April 2019 to an individual accessing obscene photographs of minors after two IP addresses were identified searching for such information.
Investigators linked the matter to Keith Sayer, who, during a search of his residence, directed officers to a closet beneath a washbasin where he had concealed the devices, which he was prohibited from using under a Sex Offenders Protection Order (SOPO) imposed following his prior conviction.
Upon examining the devices, investigators discovered a “deliberate and systematic” organisation of the illicit photographs and movies, totalling over 10,000 images classified as category A.
The Sentencing Council indicates that category A offences encompass “penetrative activity” and activities involving “an animal or sadism”.
Ms Chaplain informed the court that he possessed over 1,000 films in his collection.
Keith Sayer, who appeared over video link from Lewes prison in East Sussex, was reported to have utilised the TOR browser, enabling users to access the dark web and conceal their identities.
In mitigation, Keith Sayer was said to have had “nothing else to do” other than search for and look at child sex abuse images.
“He has never had a job; he had no ambition for himself,” defence counsel Rose Burns told the court.
“He doesn’t have any intimate relationships with anyone and never has. He doesn’t have social interaction and says it is not something he was able to have.”
She labelled his addiction to these images as an “illness, a disease”, like any other addiction.
Applying for a community order so that Sayer can be given treatment, she said that a prison sentence was not beneficial to the public nor to him, adding: “It is the only way that this man is going to be diverted from his compulsive addiction.”
However, Recorder Adam Feest decided that he would give a longer prison sentence than guidelines would suggest to Keith Sayer, adding: “It is sometimes said that people who view images of child abuse don’t cause harm to children, but that is incorrect.
“Anyone who has images of children being raped is creating a market for those types of images, and that market harms children across the world.
“Where someone has this quantity of images involving the rape of babies and other children, the harm that has been caused is impossible for me to measure.”
Keith Sayer was sentenced to 32 months in prison for the six charges of making indecent images, discounted for early guilty pleas, as well as two years for the breach of the SOPO, to be served consecutively.
For possessing six paedophile manuals, he was given a six-month custodial sentence to be served consecutively, resulting in a total prison term of three years and two months.
However, Recorder Feest admitted he is likely to only serve half of that sentence.
He ordered an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, an automatic disqualification from working with children and the forfeiture and destruction of the images and manuals.
Additionally, he was ordered to pay a victim surcharge.
An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Behind these images are often children who have been subjected to unthinkable pain and suffering.
“By continually seeking out horrific quantities of this sickening material, Keith Sayer has helped to leave a trail of devastation by fuelling demand for more children to be abused.
Has Keith Sayer amassed a new collection and found a new child victim to molest yet?
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