The paedophiles on our streets without serving a day in jail

Dozens of paedophiles caught with the most severe child abuse images have avoided jail in the last two weeks alone amid continuing fury over the decision to spare Huw Edwards.

The BBC presenter, 63, was handed a six-month sentence suspended for two years after admitting three charges of possessing indecent images of children as young as seven. 

While campaign groups leapt on the sentence as 'ludicrous, absurd and embarrassing', it was far from uncommon - with at least 30 paedophiles found with Category A images walking free from courts in the last fortnight alone. 

Judges can jail offenders for up to three years for possessing these images, but rehabilitation programmes or community orders can be used if there is a 'sufficient prospect of rehabilitation'. They must also consider mitigating factors. 

The National Crime Agency last year raised concerns that eight out of 10 people in the UK caught with indecent images of children avoid going to jail. 

Shy Keenan, a child abuse victim turned campaigner, warned that handing out suspended sentences and community orders made people who suffered at the hands of sex offenders feel like they 'don't matter'. 

She told The Sun: 'Each new download is a re-victimisation... over and over again.

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'Our recovery and survival starts with how society deals with the crime in the first place and at the moment the message is clear: we don't matter. 

'Ignoring this ''gateway crime'' just kicks these dangerous sex offenders into the long grass for the next children to manage.'

Offenders spared prison in recent weeks include Timothy Johnson, 45, who covered his face as he left Bournemouth Crown Court after admitting to possessing 3,000 abuse images. 

The judge told him he was 'directly contributing to the rape of children by downloading these images', but still handed him 12 months in jail suspended for two years. 

The day after Huw Edwards was handed his suspended sentence, another man walked free from court for a similar crime. Hotelier Stuart Pettifer had been making and distributing indecent images of children – some as young as five.

Police had arrested the 57-year-old at his home on the Isle of Wight in December 2022. An iPhone had been discovered where he lived and it was found that he had been searching Instagram for pictures of young girls.

He was a member of chat groups where he – and others – would share indecent images, fourteen of which were Category A – showing the worst kind of abuse. The age range of the children in the images was between five and fourteen.

Pettifer's solicitor told the court that his client had been having 'intimacy issues' in his marriage and he received an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.  

In another horrific case, 38-year-old Mark Bullen was found in possession of 3,500 illegal photos and videos in what a police officer described as one of the 'worst' indecent image cases of his career. 

The vile stash, which included 556 Category A images, led to a 15-month prison sentence suspended for two years. Bullen's barrister said he had personality disorders and learning difficulties. 

Other paedophiles have been spared jail for other child sex offences that did not involve the possession of indecent images. 

Dr Ross Canade, a 53-year-old child psychologist at the controversial Tavistock hospital trust was handed a 12-month suspended sentence on October 2 after he was caught grooming what he believed to be a 15-year-old schoolboy.

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Canade – who had worked at the scandal-hit hospital which treated gender confused children - exchanged numbers with the 'boy' and the conversation 'quickly turned sexual' before continuing on WhatsApp.

They pair talked about 'having sex in a local park' and five days later they met up and ate together at a restaurant in North London. But it later emerged the 'boy' was a decoy from a vigilante paedoephile-hunting group.

Alongside his 12 month suspended sentence, Canade, from north London, was given a six-month suspended sentence to run concurrently after admitting to attempting to engage in sexual conversation with a child. Both sentences were suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to carry out 150 days of unpaid work as well as complete 35 sessions of a sex offenders rehabilitation course. But despite being fired from the hospital, Canade remains free to practice.

Ministers are set to review sentences for online paedophiles amid calls for guaranteed prison terms for offenders.

There was a public outcry after the former BBC newsreader escaped jail earlier this month after admitting possession of indecent images of children.

The 63-year-old admitted three charges of 'making' indecent photographs after being sent 41 illegal images by paedophile Alex Williams over WhatsApp.

The case sparked anger with questions raised about the decision to let Edwards dodge jail and over wider sentencing guidelines.

The row over Edwards will pile pressure on the Government ahead of a planned sentencing review being overseen by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Dr Sara Payne is a campaigner best known for 'Sarah's Law', which allows parents to ask police if someone is a convicted child sex offender.

She told previously said a review of sentencing guidelines for those downloading and sharing images of child sexual exploitation was 'long overdue'

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Sentences are decided by independent judges after considering the facts of the case. 

'They can impose a range of tough requirements on offenders given suspended sentences and sex offenders will also be put on the register to keep the public safe.'