A loner who set-up a “masturbation machine” at a window and pasted a “collage” of indecent photos of children on his bedroom wall has been jailed for 14 months.
Pervert Steven Conroy, from Corby, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court yesterday for 13 counts of possessing and making indecent images of children.
The court heard Conroy, aged 53, set-up the viewpoint, described in court as a “masturbation machine”, overlooking a road leading to a primary school.
The court heard he could not see St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Primary School from his window, but was told the area looked out onto a road where children walked to and from the school.
Conroy, who admitted the offences, was also found to have filmed young children on their way to school from his garden.
When police raided his home in February, they found thousands of DVDs and around 3,000 indecent pictures of children, including dozens of the most serious images, as well as 25 images of “extreme pornography”.
Officers also found children’s underwear and a schoolgirl’s outfit.
Conroy was a described in court as leading an “isolated life” and of systematically organising his collection of indecent images.
Jailing him, Judge Lynn Tayton QC said: “It is quite clear that you have been recording young girls from your garden using a camcorder.
“It also appears, looking at the items in your bedroom, that you are a hoarder. But it is also clear that you have had an obsessive interest in sexual materials and that you have set up a masturbation machine in your bedroom, near the window.”
He was jailed for 14 months for possessing and making indecent images of children and a further month, to run concurrently, for producing a class B drug.
He was found with four cannabis plants.
Conroy was also handed a sexual offences prevention order and must sign the sex offenders’ register for the next 10 years.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Stacey Hill said: “The sentencing of Stephen Conroy demonstrates our commitment to track down and stop anybody who has a sexual interest in children and looks at indecent images of them.
“Conroy is where he should be: behind bars. His offending was aggravated by the systematic collation and hoarding of thousands of indecent images.
“His proximity to a local school cannot be ignored, though we are satisfied that no local children have been approached by him.
“The protection of children is a priority for Northamptonshire Police. We will continue to identify and arrest those who possess and distribute indecent images of them.”
The images taken by Conroy are to be destroyed.