A teenage Isle of Wight paedophile caught with over 900 child sex abuse images, which he shared with ‘likeminded’ individuals online, will not go to prison – he will complete unpaid work instead.

Jamie O’Neil of Culver Road, Shanklin, attended the Isle of Wight Crown Court on Friday, October 18, for sentencing.

At magistrates on July 23, the 19-year-old admitted to three counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child and three further counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child.

Tim Devlin, prosecuting, said police were aware that images had been sent from fake Twitter and email accounts that were linked to O’Neil.

Officers seized various devices, including a Samsung phone which had Category A, B and C images and four ‘extreme images’ of child sexual abuse. 

Mr Devlin said that, on multiple devices between April 27 and July 15, 2022, O’Neil had in his possession 159 Category A (the most serious), 324 Category B and 428 Category C indecent images of children, a total of 911 photos.

The court heard that O’Neil, who was 17 years old at the time of the offences, was previously of good character.

Mr Devlin said O’Neil could face up to three years imprisonment for Category A distribution, set out in the sentencing guidelines.

Jason Halsey, defending, said his client, who sent photos to “likeminded” individuals in an online chatroom, did not fully understand what he was doing and had a “distorted view of sexual abuse.”

“It’s been two years since these offences, and there have been no issues since,” said Mr Halsey, who added that his client was in a “phase” and “experimenting”.

“He’s grown up and come a long way but has a long way still to go,” Mr Halsey admitted.

He asked Judge William Ashworth to consider giving his client a suspended sentence, as the probation service said O’Neil is not an immediate risk to the public and has a realistic chance at rehabilitation. 

Judge Ashworth told the court: “If he were an older man, I would not waste my breath, but he is still a young man.

“He isn’t going to do a lot of growing up in Winchester prison, so I’m not going to send him to prison.”

Judge Ashworth handed O’Neil a 24-month community order to include 35 rehabilitation days and 150 unpaid work hours.

O’Neil was also given a five-year notification requirement and a sexual harm protection order.