A depraved Fratton sex offender, Ross Clifford, who obtained a ‘paedophile guidebook’ with explicit instructions on child molestation, including infants, has been incarcerated.
Depraved paedophile Ross Clifford, residing on Toronto Road in Fratton, confessed to downloading the instructions onto a memory stick, in addition to thousands of indecent photos of children, including some depicting toddlers as young as two being subjected to abuse.
The 40-year-old, Ross Clifford, appeared via video link from Winchester jail, remaining silent as his disturbing list of charges was recited in Portsmouth Crown Court.
During sentencing, Judge David Melville QC stated: ‘It is difficult to conceive a more severe array of charges presented to the court, especially considering your prior appearance before this court in late 2017 for analogous offenses.’
It is imperative that you understand the abuse endured by the youngsters included in these films. If not for someone like you getting this material, those children would not have suffered abuse.
The anguish and torment they would have endured is abhorrent. This will likely last throughout their lives, and it is a distressing notion that such anguish will manifest due to the desires of individuals like you to examine these photographs.
Following a police raid at Ross Clifford’s residence on February 12, authorities confiscated computer equipment and mobile phones, leading to the discovery of 1,195 category A photographs, 786 category B images, and 3,001 category C images.
They also discovered 221 category A moving videos depicting the sexual assault of children, along with 56 category B images and 13 category C images.
A 25-page guidebook for paedophiles was discovered, containing abhorrent pictures illustrating methods for molesting youngsters.
Regarding the most extreme photos, Judge Melville stated: ‘They are of the most egregious nature.’ They depict penetrative sexual acts involving youngsters as young as two years old.
Ross Clifford had been previously convicted of analogous charges in 2017 and received an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Karen Walton stated that her client, Ross Clifford, acknowledged his offences but requested the court to refrain from incarcerating the 40-year-old, proposing instead a three-year community sentence coupled with a treatment program.
She stated: ‘He has acknowledged all of his actions and recognised that he requires assistance.’
I fully acknowledge that this is an exceedingly distressing and very tragic offence for those little children. The challenge with an individual who acknowledges such an offence is that punishment does not inherently mitigate the risk upon their release.
Judge Melville denied this request and sentenced Ross Clifford to four years and three months in incarceration. Ross Clifford will complete fifty percent of this sentence before being freed on parole.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.