According to gazettelive newspaper of the Trinity mirror group,65-year-old Jehovah's Witness Church Leader ? Ian Ross pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children between 9 May 2013 and 11 May last year.
The judge said Ian’s action on his computer shocked his church, so he was also excommunicated from the Church.
a discredited Jehovah's Witnesses
The judge Stephen Eshesite told Ian：“You were 65 years old，you were respected in front of other people，no criminal record, You held positions of some authority in the community, particularly your religious community. You now stand in the crown court in some disgrace because of what you believed was your private interest and has now put you in the public glare.”
Suspects Ian
Judge Ashesite said Ian has been under a lot of stress in total 18 months.
excommunicated from the Church
Judge Ashesite said it first affect yourself，secondly your family and friends, they are shocked by your behavior, especially as you have such a position in the Church. You have been expelled outside the church.
Teesside Crown Court
The judge said the court also recognized Ian crimes was a serious offense, Ian by accessing it was fuelling the child pornography trade.
The judge said he also heard Ian excuses，although he exposured to these pornographic images, but not “put into practice”. Ian expressed repentance for their actions and worked to start rehabilitation.
Prosecutor Jenny Haigh said that Ross’s computer had stored a total of 593 still and moving images including 28 at the most serious level Category A, another 14 at Level B and 523 at Level C of girls aged between three and 16.
Julian Gaskin, defending, said: “Ian is very shameful about what has taken place and he has spoken with some candour in the pre-sentence report. family is the most important thing to him and he don’t want to lose them.”
Ross, of St Oswald’s Crescent, Billingham , who has been living with his sister in Southend, was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with the Sex Offender’s Treatment programme, a Sexual Offence’s Prevention Order banning him from unsupervised contact with girls under 16 for seven years, banned from accessing the internet except with a device that can be monitored by police, and ordered to register as a sex offender for seven years, after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
