A 78-year-old York man described as a “dedicated viewer” of images of child sex abuse has been jailed yet again.
Derek Gunnee, who has a long history of viewing, possessing and distributing sexual imagery involving minors admitted breaching a sexual-harm prevention order – just a day after being released from his last prison sentence.
He appeared at York Crown Court via video link yesterday (Wednesday).
Prosecutor Temitayo Dasaolu said that Gunnee, of Kingsway North, was subject to the order following previous offences of possessing indecent imagery.
The order forbade him from having any cleaning or wiping software to hide his internet-search history.
He was released from his last prison sentence on 4 November, but when police went to check on his computer devices the following day, they found he had installed two apps on his computer including a ‘cleaner’ or forensic wiping software and another which anonymised internet searches and removed search history.
Gunnee was brought in for questioning and told officers he “sometimes forgot” the conditions of the order.
His criminal online activities dated back 20 years, his first conviction being in 2005 at York Crown Court for possessing indecent imagery.
In 2015, he was jailed for two years and eight months for distributing indecent images of children.
In 2021, he was jailed for 20 months for a previous breach of the sexual-harm-prevention order. He was jailed again last year for 18 months and earlier this year he received a 16-week prison sentence for breaching the same order.
He was released on prison licence in November when a probation officer clearly explained the conditions for his licence and sexual-harm order, which went unheeded as soon as Gunnee returned home.
Defence barrister Eddison Flint said that Gunnee had been home for a mere 12 hours when police came calling and found he had downloaded the apps following his release from prison.
He said that Gunnee, who had been recalled to prison following the breaches, was the sole carer for his very poorly wife.
Judge Simon Hickey, who has dealt with Gunnee on umpteen occasions in the past, told the inveterate pensioner: “It appears to me you just deliberately flout court orders.”
He said that Gunnee had deliberately installed forensic wiping software “to prevent officers looking at your device history”.
“It suggests you are trying to avoid being caught looking at indecent images or criminal images,” added Mr Hickey.
Gunnee received a 16-month jail sentence but was told he would serve less than half of that time behind bars before being released, yet again, on prison licence.
The judge warned him that the sentences would get “longer and longer” should he persist in his recidivist offending.
