A horrified homeowner was arrested in his own home in front of his wife for offences committed by Peter Quinton, the Bodmin paedophile, living in his annexe.
Devon and Cornwall Police got confused and did not understand why two unrelated male adults would be living together in the same property; they were actually after sex offender Peter Quinton, 31, who later suggested to police that the homeowner may have had something to do with it.
Peter Quinton, formerly of Bodmin but more recently of Gloucester, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence, having pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
Prosecuting the case, Ryan Murray said that on July 27, 2021, police executed a warrant at an address in Bodmin following intelligence from an online paedophile investigation team that linked the IP address to child pornography being accessed online. Mr Murray described how police initially arrested the property owner before realising Peter Quinton was living in an annexe.
Peter Quinton provided devices and, on a laptop, found five Category A images, one Category B and two Category C. All were stills and depicted children aged between one and seven. Peter Quinton was also found to have made searches relating to child abuse images and made file names relating to toddlers and babies. The homeowner said that had he realised Peter Quinton was a sex offender, he’d never have allowed him to live there.
Peter Quinton largely remained quiet during the interview, but suggested the homeowner may have had something to do with the accessing of the sick material. The court heard how Peter Quinton had been convicted of similar offences in 2015 and given a non-custodial sentence.
Representing Peter Quinton, Nicholas Wragg said that he had been in a stable relationship and stable employment for many years. Mr Wragg added that Peter Quinton suffered abuse as a child, which had a “profound effect” on him, and also witnessed domestic abuse. All of this is said to have “distorted his thinking later in life”. He has also been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which causes impulsive behaviour, but does not evoke paedophilic tendencies.
Sentencing Quinton, Recorder John Trevaskis said it’s sadly a fact of life that those who commit crimes involving abuse are often the victims of abuse themselves. He added that as a result, Peter Quinton developed an unhealthy interest in sexual activity with children, and although he hadn’t actively abused any children himself, the interests of people such as Peter Quinton result in children being raped and abused all over the world.
Recorder Trevaskis said that in Peter Quinton’s case, there is considerable mitigation, despite his “deeply entrenched and inappropriate interest in indecent images of children”. Recorder Trevaskis noted Peter Quinton’s family support and that of his wife, and, deeming him “a realistic prospect of rehabilitation”, sentenced him to a two-year community order, with 300 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation requirement to address his offending. Quinton was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
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