Bodmin paedophile with 'distorted attitude' is a 'danger to children'

A pervert with a "distorted attitude" has been described as a "danger to children". Philip Matthews ended up in court after Devon and Cornwall Police were alerted that he was downloading illegal content.

A search of his electronic devices revealed he had downloaded videos and images of children as young as six being raped. At a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court today (Wednesday, November 20), it was heard he had downloaded 74 Category A images, alongside 17 Category B images and 13 Category C images. Matthews was jailed for two years.

The most recent discovery happened while Matthews was already under police investigation for similar offences.

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The court heard that Matthews, who has several convictions for 11 offences of making indecent images of children, received a two-year prison sentence in December 2016 when he offended again having received a suspended sentence the previous year.

In mitigation, Ryan Murray said Matthews, who pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children at a previous hearing, had become desensitised to paedophilia, having been exposed to unhealthy material from a young age, which led him to "have a distorted attitude towards such material".

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Mr Murray said Matthews' addiction to indecent images of children found online had been fed by a sense of isolation. He told the court: "When he moved to Bodmin, he didn't know anyone. When the nature of his past became known it led to isolation. This is a man who struggles to fit in and operates on the margins of society. Isolation then feeds his addiction. He has also recently lost his mother who had been a source of support for him."

His Honour Judge Robert Linford said Matthews is a man with a "disturbing list of previous convictions" adding that on this occasion he was found with indecent images of children when he was already under police investigation for a similar offence. Judge Linford said Matthews had breached a suspended sentence and had been put on a sex offender treatment programme in the past designed to address the root cause of his offending.

He added: "The course you went on has been found to be unsustainable and increased your offending. However, whether you access images of children being abused is up to you. No one is making you do it. One would have thought that having had a scare a few years ago, you would have been careful not to do it again, but you did do it again.

"There is no prospect of rehabilitation for you. You are a danger to children. These images are images of real children as young as six being raped for the entertainment of people like you. If people like you didn't watch, others would not film it."

Matthews was sentenced to two years in prison. He will serve 40 per cent before being eligible for release on licence. A sexual harm prevention order for 10 years was also imposed. He will be on the sex offender register for 10 years.

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