‘No remorse whatsoever’ says Northampton judge about man who used Twitter and Kik to share child abuse images

A man has been given a suspended prison sentence after he was found with more than 300 child abuse images.

Jacob Hague, aged 22, of Archery Road, Middleton Cheney, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, October 27 after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of children and two counts of attempting to engage with sexual communication with children.

The court heard that three Twitter accounts - all linked to Hague - were found to have shared a number of indecent images and videos of children and engaged with conversations of a sexual nature to users, who identified themselves as being aged 13 and 14.

Ben Gow, prosecuting, said this activity was flagged to the national crime agency, who referred this to the police and the IP address was tracked to Hague’s parents’ home in Middleton Cheney. When police could not find Hague, he was flagged up as wanted and a marker was placed on his car.

The court heard that Hague was arrested on February 7, 2020, and a number of items including mobile phones were seized from him. Analysis revealed that a total of 99 Category A images, 91 Category B images and 123 Category C indecent images of children and babies were discovered on the devices.

Mr Gow said that police discovered chats with children on Kik – with one child sending a picture of a friend in school uniform – and he was a part of a group chat called ‘Underage Sexual Fantasies.’

The court heard that Hague, when interviewed, claimed he did not know the images were on his devices and denied engaging in sexual communication with children.

Mr Gow said Hague refused to provide police with passcodes to his devices.

Hague has previous convictions of possessing cannabis and a bladed article.

Alexander Barbour, in mitigation, described Hague as a man who became “isolated” at the age of 18 and self-medicated with cannabis to deal with his anxiety and depression.

The defence barrister said the significant delay to his sentencing has led to the prospect of custody hanging over his head for years, which has been difficult for him and his family.

The court heard the defendant has expressed remorse for his actions, secured a new job, no longer uses drugs, matured and built a life for himself.

Mr Barbour said: “Whilst anxiety is still something he has to wrestle with, he is a very different person now.”

Recorder Sprawson said that, in his judgement, Hague showed “absolutely no remorse whatsoever” at the time of his offending as he immediately tried to minimise his involvement.

Mr Sprawson, addressing Hague, said: “Your aunt described you as someone who approached this case with bravery and courage.

“You just think of the lack of courage and bravery of those who took the images in the first place. Those children were exploited, abused and they no doubt suffered at the hands of the perpetrators and you played a part in supporting that.”

Hague was handed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and, for that time, a Sexual Harm Prevention was imposed.