A student had his day in court after looking at images of a member of The Simpsons cartoon being sexually abused by another.
Computer-created images showed child character Bart being assaulted by his own mother in the show, Marge.
A police raid on Grindon Lane in Springwell, Sunderland, at the home of Graham Moon, 23, uncovered 49 similar images on his electronic devices.
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He faced up to three years in the cage and a stint on the Sex Offenders' Register for his crimes.
District Judge Zoe Passfield instead opted for a 12-month community order which involved 20 days of rehabilitative work, reports SunderlandEcho.
This was done through the probation service but Judge Passfield didn’t put the degree holder on the Sex Offenders' Register.
She did, however, note there were “some points of concern” in the pre-sentence report written looking into his behaviour.
He pleaded guilty at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to possession of the prohibited images of children from February 19, 2019, and August 4, 2020.
Prosecutor John Garside said: “There are no sentencing guidelines for this offence.
“The circumstances are that police have executed a search warrant of the defendant’s home address.
“They seized electronic devices and over two devices were 49 images that were accessible.
“An example of one image was computer generated of a male child, effectively a cartoon. It’s one cartoon that may be known to the court.
“It’s effectively Bart Simpson."
He continued: “That’s effectively what these images are, they are cartoon images of children and adults.
“The defendant comes before the court with no convictions or cautions. The maximum sentence is three years.”
Angus Westgarth, defending, said: “He has no previous convictions. He was a student at the university on his last year.
“When interviewed, he told the police that he had seen these images and they were on his machine, and he didn’t realise that it was illegal to possess them.
“These are still cartoon images, no child has been acted against. As soon as this offence was put to him, he pleaded guilty. There’s no child. What makes him tick, I’m not sure.”
He must pay a £114 surcharge.
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If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website, www.victimsupport.org.uk.
