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Canterbury paedophile Paul Wright jailed after setting up photo studio to lure children with showbiz dreams
00:01, 07 May 2014
A convicted Canterbury paedophile set himself up as a photographer to lure children who wanted to break into showbusiness.
Pervert Paul Wright used Facebook to promote his new firm – One Touch Photography – aimed at youngsters.
On his advert was a link to another legitimate website offering services for children who want to become famous.
But the parents who allowed the coach driver to organise photo shoots at their homes never knew he had served time for downloading vile sex images of children.
Now a judge at Canterbury Crown Court has jailed Wright, of Nunnery Fields, for three years.
The 46-year-old father-of-two had pleaded guilty to seven charges of breaching a Sex Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) and downloading child sex images as well as a story about the rape of a six-month old victim.
Judge James O'Mahony told him: "You flagrantly breached the court orders which were designed to protect children.
"You were advertising, attracting children who, no doubt, in these days of celebrities, thought, 'I'm going to be famous, perhaps' and that was the way you started taking their photographs.
"Although I accept there is no evidence you did anything that was physical."
Prosecutor Robert De Banzie told how police were alerted to Wright's Facebook photography advert and raided his home.
Wright, who has links to Deal and Dover, had been jailed in July 2011 for 20 weeks after admitting eight charges of possessing and making vile child sex images.
Mr De Banzie said Wright had had restricted access to a computer and was banned from work that gave him unfettered access to children.
"It was discovered he had been offering photography services from One Touch Photography which had a link to another internet site for aspiring child actors.
"Wright's home page showed 10 pictures of children which had taken by him. He was arrested and his mobile phone and laptop computer were seized."
Mr De Banzie said police discovered Wright had also downloaded a story from a sex site – offering "child erotica at its best" – involving the rape of a six-month-old child.
The prosecutor said police also found details of the people who had used One Touch Photography and asked them if Wright had ever been alone with any of the children.
"The parents of a 12-year-old revealed he had unsupervised contact, but there were no allegations they had been interfered with," he added.
But on his computer and phone, officers discovered nearly 3,000 images and movies up to level two on a scale where five is the most severe.
Wright was questioned by police and admitted photographing children at his home or in rented studios.
He claimed parents were always there during the photo shoots and he had never been left alone with any of the youngsters.
Wright also denied reading the rape story – claiming he had fallen asleep before finishing it and denied having sexual interest in children.
Ben Walker-Nolan, defending, said Wright has now sold his camera equipment and "doesn't intend to pursue his interest in photography in the future".
The barrister added that after visiting his mother on the Isle of Wight, Wright was taken ill with a suspected heart attack.
He has now been given a new seven-year SOPO.
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