05/06/2026
A Macclesfield pa******le, found in possession of abhorrent child abuse images, has been spared jail after admitting feeling ''pure disgust'' over the offences.
Lucy Dean, who Chester Crown Court heard is a transgender woman, downloaded more than 1,000 images of child po*******hy onto the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 device over a two year period.
The 27-year-old was arrested at home in Macclesfield in June last year after officers from Cheshire Police's online child abuse investigation team received intelligence that her email and IP addresses had been used to upload indecent images of children.
Inquiries showed Dean had 306 images in the most serious category A, including 224 videos, some of which showed babies in severe distress being sexually assaulted. Officers also found 173 images in category B, including 53 videos and 525 images in category C, of which 48 were videos, as well as six prohibited images of a child, images that were said to not be actual children.
Appearing in court last Wednesday (May 27), Dean faced three years in jail under sentencing guidelines after admitting one charge of possession of prohibited images of a child and three charges of making indecent images of children, in category A, B and C between August 2023 and June 2025.
But the defendant was sentenced to 16 months in jail, suspended for two years, along with requirements to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work, after telling a judge she had paid for private counselling to address her behaviour.
Appearing unrepresented after being refused legal aid, Dean, who has no previous convictions, told judge Michael Leeming she had paid for private counselling to address the offences.
''The person arrested last year does not feel at all like the person I am now," said Dean. "I feel remorse, guilt and shame and pure disgust at myself and I am truly sorry for everyone affected by what I have done."
''It pains me to not be able to apologise directly to the victims in this case. There was a sense of them not being in front of me at the time but I now recognise they are victims.”
Earlier, prosecutor Mr Peter Hussey told the court that the investigation into Dean followed police intelligence. "It was an early knock on the door that the defendant received. Police gave the defendant the email address they were investigating.
"The defendant then complied with a search and provided access to the devices seized. A forensic report of her phone showed over the preceding couple of years, the defendant had been using an encryption application and the dark web in order to access indecent images of children and also a handful of prohibited images of children.
"The images had been stored on the phone's internal gallery. The Onion Ring internet browser used often to access the dark web had also been installed on the phone.
"There was evidence as well of the kind of internet search terms that had been used by the defendant in order to seek out this type of material. It is self-evident from some of these search terms that the defendant was seeking out paedophilia material.
“There were images of babies being sexually abused, some clearly in distress. This is serious offending of its type. The case is aggravated by the very young age of some of those depicted in the images, their distress and the fact there is a large collection of moving content.''
Dean admitted wrongdoing at police interview and was was also ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity and must sign the S*x Offender Register for 10 years and be subject of a ten year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
The device, a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 phone, was also confiscated. Police can apply to extend the SHPO at the end of the 10 year period if they believe Dean poses a risk.
In sentencing Judge Michael Leeming told Dean: “These are not victimless crimes. People downloading this sort of material stimulates the demand and encourages child abuse.
"These images and videos show that somewhere in the world, a child is being abused for the sexual gratification of people like you who resort to this sort of material.''
''But there is a probation report indicates that you take full responsibility for your offending, that you did not seek to minimise in any way.
''You present as being ashamed and being remorseful and on a positive note you started to explore why you behaved in that way you did.
''You voluntarily engaged with interventions to address the risk this sort of thing happening again and you are privately funding these therapy sessions.
''In this case, I am satisfied that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation but you will never come closer to receiving an immediate custodial sentence. If you do not take the opportunity, it will be an immediate custodial sentence the next time."
Source: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/pa******le-caught-1000-child-porn-34068859?IYA-reg=c02233ad-5cb7-4596-a4d1-de00c702ba71&utm_source=inyourarea.co.uk&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dnl&utm_keyword=dailynewsletter&utm_content=dnl_news_article_referral_small_2
