Disabled worker escapes jail term

From: icWales, UK - Jun 6, 2003

by Paul Carey, The Western Mail

A CHILDCARE worker caught in the FBI investigation into child pornography on the internet escaped being jailed yesterday because he is deaf and dumb.

Justin Rixon, 33, was arrested as part of Operation Ore, the FBI investigation which has trapped thousands of paedophiles all over the world.

Rixon had 556 photographs of young children being sexually and physically abused stored on four computers at his flat.

But Rixon - who does voluntary work with children for charity - escaped jail after Cardiff Crown Court heard his disability means he is trapped in "a world of silence".

Heath Edwards, prosecuting, said, "An internet site was set up in Fort Worth in Texas allowing users to pay for access to hundreds of child pornography sites.

"No one could access the site by chance - they had to give their credit card details.

"The FBI passed details of users in the UK to the National Crime Intelligence Service. One of these was Justin Rixon."

Mr Edwards said Rixon's flat was searched and 556 images of children were found stored on floppy disks and on four computers.

He told the court, "Rixon had purchased membership to eight sites showing children being physically and sexually abused using his credit card.

"He was arrested and admitted purchasing the memberships, but said he had stopped when his conscience got the better of him."

The court heard eight of the images were categorised at level five - the most serious type of indecent images.

Peter Heywood, defending Rixon, said he had been deaf and mute since birth and would be "crushed" by a jail term.

Mr Heywood told the court, "He has difficulty coping with everyday tasks and would need 24-hour help in prison.

"Prison is meant to be a hardship but for him it would be doubly hard. He is vulnerable because he is trapped in a world of silence."

Rixon of Grangetown, Car- diff, admitted possessing indecent child photographs.

He was sentenced to a two-year community rehabilitation order and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Judge John Griffith Williams told Rixon he would have received a jail sentence of up to 12 months if he was not disabled.

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