R v Freeman
In July 2011 Scotland Yard secured a Landmark victory after convicting Steven Freeman (57) of making indecent drawings of children. In this instance, the drawings included children being raped. This is the first prosecution under the 2009 Coroners and Justice Act Section 64 (2009) for this type of non-photographic Child Abuse Content. Some 3000 drawings were found at the home of Freeman where images were also traded with other members of Freemans Pedophile network (PIE – Pedophile Information Exchange) which shared and traded in images. Freeman was given an indeterminate sentence with a minimum term of 30 months. 4 other members of the same group were also sentenced with terms ranging from 12 to 24 months.
Police had originally raided Freeman’s house on a previous occasion in 2008 and Freeman was charged with the possession of Indecent Photographic Images, however as the 2009 Act had not come into force no specific action was able to be taken on the drawings. Once the Act came into force Police returned to Freeman’s house and secured the case against him. Although the images were not posted online, it demonstrates that it is an offence to be in possession of, and to distribute this form of content.
