Had 124,000 indecent images of children

BT worker jailed for 22 months after pleading guilty to possessing over 124,000 indecent images of children

Ashok Rana, 41, of Langley Green, Crawley, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on [Date of sentencing]. He was handed an immediate custodial sentence of 22 months after pleading guilty to possessing a vast number of indecent images of children.

The court heard that the sheer volume of indecent images, exceeding 124,000, was so extensive that police officers were forced to stop categorizing them.

Indecent images of children are classified into three categories: Category A (most serious), Category B, and Category C. Rana was found to have 201 Category A images (including 76 moving images), 68 Category B images (including 27 moving images), and over 124,000 Category C images.

The court was informed that Rana acknowledged his inability to control his impulses when it came to possessing indecent images, many of which depicted children as young as three years old.

In sentencing Rana, who worked as a manager for telecoms firm BT, the Recorder, Ms Sarah Elliott, expressed her deep concern over the case. She stated: "This is a tragic case. This type of offense puts children at risk."

While acknowledging the severity of the crime, Ms Elliott also acknowledged Rana's generally positive character: "While these offenses are reprehensible, in all other respects, you are a decent member of society with a supportive family, who ought to be making his mark in a positive way." Rana's sister was present in the public gallery throughout the hearing and was visibly emotional when the sentence was passed.

Rana had previously been sentenced by Lewes Crown Court to a four-month suspended sentence for two years, which he had breached. He was also found to be in violation of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, having used six devices without the required monitoring software.

Ms Elliott imposed a sentence of 12 months for possessing Category A images, eight months for breaching the Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and activated the suspended sentence for an additional two months, all to be served consecutively. She also sentenced him to eight months for possessing Category B images and four months for possessing Category C images, to be served concurrently.

Rana will serve half of his 22-month sentence in custody and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for a period of 10 years.