A BAFTA-nominated TV executive was among seven paedophiles spared jail yesterday — amid ongoing outcry over News at Ten presenter Huw Edwards’ lenient sentence.
The sex offenders followed the disgraced BBC broadcaster in walking free from court despite committing perverted crimes against children.
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They were caught with 3,521 child abuse images between them — with 1,078 in the worst Category A.
Three-time British Soap Award winner Lee Salisbury, 46, asked a teen boy intimate questions in sexualised messages.
The exec worked on Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Holby City and EastEnders, and bragged about working with pop star Harry Styles and “seeing him naked on several occasions”.
Salisbury, of Bradford, West Yorks, admitted charges at the city’s crown court, but his 12-month jail term was suspended, leaving him free.
It comes as MPs and campaigners question whether the suspended six-month sentence given to Edwards, 63, for having 41 indecent images of children was too lenient.
Last night Reform chairman Zia Yusuf slammed it as another example of “two-tier justice”, during our Never Mind The Ballots show on YouTube.
He said: “The fact he will not serve a day in prison is beyond unacceptable.”
Yesterday, James House, 41, of Hemel Hempstead, Herts, got a suspended sentence at St Albans magistrates’ court, for sex chats with a police decoy he thought was aged 13.
Trainee teacher Kurtis Pope, 23, also received a suspended sentence at Southampton crown court for having 458 extreme porn images and a Category B video of a young girl.
James McPherson, 27, of Solihull, West Mids, had over 1,000 images of children as young as two, which he paid for. He got a three-year community order at Birmingham crown court.
John Pinches, 27, of Sandbach, Cheshire, who had 652 Category A pictures in a stash of 2,170 images, also avoided jail time with a suspended sentence at Preston magistrates’ court.
Lancaster JPs allowed David Searle, 36, of Heysham, Lancs, to walk free, despite cops finding a sickening image of an eight-year-old being raped on his phone.
Another suspended sentence was given.
Guildford magistrates heard electronics engineer Colin Oliver, 53, of Camberley, Surrey, made 85 Category B and 78 Category C images. He got a community order.
MORE CRIME – LESS TIME
By Andy Robinson
PAEDOPHILES are getting softer sentences as the criminal justice system struggles to deal with the rise in offenders, a legal expert has warned.
Judges previously jailed those caught with indecent pictures of children, but many now get suspended sentences or community orders instead.
Past high-profile cases include The Thick Of It star Chris Langham, who was convicted on 15 counts of downloading indecent images of children.
Langham, 75, was jailed for ten months in 2007, later reduced to six months. But jail time for paedos is now rare.
Marcus Johnstone, a leading sexual offences law expert at PCD Solicitors, said: “Indecent images are readily available online, so there has been an exponential increase in people accessing them. Because of the volume of cases, sentencing has had to get lighter, as the system cannot cope.
“There is also a two-tier system. Those with money who can afford good legal representation like Huw Edwards will almost never go to prison.”
The Sun demands anyone caught with Category A images is jailed, as part of our Keep Our Kids Safe campaign.
Sexual violence charity SurvivorsUK yesterday said: “Research indicates perpetrators of child abuse offences have a high potential for reoffending.
“A suspended sentence does not always provide the necessary deterrent, or the adequate treatment, to ensure offenders are rehabilitated.”
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