Man caught with sexual images of children and videos involving donkey, horse and a dog

A man caught with sexual images of children and extreme videos of animals has been placed on the sex offenders' register.

Paul Clarke, 37, had three indecent photos or pseudo photos of children on a mobile phone seized by police who raided his home in Thill Stone Mews, Whitburn. They included that of a girl aged 12 or 13 lying naked with her bottom and breasts exposed, magistrates in South Tyneside heard.

Forensic checks also discovered four videos of animals  - a dog, a horse and a donkey - being sexually abused by men and women. One showed a man having penetrative sex with a donkey, another committing the same act on a horse – and a dog was filmed being misused.

Clarke pleaded guilty to one count of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children and one of possessing four extreme pornographic videos. The offences were committed in Sunderland between April 26, 2021, and April 28, 2022, and the child images are at the least serious category C level.

He was put on the sex offenders register by magistrates and could be jailed for up to 26 weeks when sentenced, his case being adjourned for an all-options report.

Prosecutor Bushra Begum said: “These matters come about following the police attending the defendant’s home address and seizing his mobile phone and SIM card. Within were extreme images and images of children. The indecent images recovered were a sample of a female child around the ages of 12 or 13, lying naked with exposed buttocks and breasts. The extreme pornography showed an adult male penetrating a donkey, another offence is of a male and female, and a third is a penetrative image of a horse.”

The court was told Clarke was convicted of a charge of sexual assault in 2018, which was dealt with at a court martial, of which no further detail was revealed.

Joanne Gatens, defending, said the extreme images had been sent to Clarke via his membership of a WhatsApp social media group, but the child images had not. She added: “The defendant is a member of a WhatsApp group, and that can be precarious. This is a group with lads who he’s been friends with for years, but only one he is still in contact with. He describes coming home to 60 or 70 notifications. Other people have uploaded them. He hasn’t been looking at them. In terms of the images, we’re not talking about young children. I’m not trivialising the offence.”

Magistrates granted Clarke unconditional bail to be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, January 9. They made him subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.