A former Wiltshire police officer told another paedophile that he wanted to ‘take the virginity of a child’ and stashed hundreds of indecent images.
Robert Gabbott downloaded vile photographs he found online and saved them into a cloud storage account – where he named the folders “schoolgirls”, “babymakers” and “c**k lovers”.
The 64-year-old, also known as Bob, was rumbled when police received intelligence about two messages he’d sent to another person which contained child abuse images.
Officers attended his home in Elizabeth Close, Melksham, where he admitted the email address was owned by him; several digital devices were seized for forensic examination.
Searches of a Samsung S20 phone revealed 856 indecent images of children – 200 of which were in the most severe category. The ages of the victims pictured ranged from toddlers to 11-year-olds.
Ellen McAnaw, prosecuting at Swindon Crown Court today (Friday), said that Gabbott also engaged in a conversation with another paedophile based in Scotland.
He told the other man that he had a female relative aged nine and suggested that he would like to sexually abuse her. He sent two indecent images to the man, claiming they were of his relative.
When the other male sent Gabbott images of two girls aged eight and nine, who he claims are his relatives, Gabbott replied: “They look amazing in their school uniforms”.
He also disclosed to the other man that he would like to receive oral sex from the two girls pictured and fanaticises about having a girlfriend with a daughter of the same age who wants to have intercourse with him.
Gabbott told the other man that he’d pleasured himself over the indecent photographs of his own relative and ejaculated over his stockings.
He also said he’d like to take the youngster’s virginity. However, police found that the relative did not exist – the photographs were of a child not known to Gabbott.
He initially told officers that he had unintendedly come across the images and recorded them to report his findings to the police. He denied a sexual interest in children.
At a previous hearing at Swindon Magistrates’ Court in December, Gabbott pleaded guilty to two charges of distributing seven indecent images of a child in categories A and B and three charges of making (collecting) indecent images of a child – including 200 in category A, 199 in category B and 457 in category C.
Defence barrister Sam Jones said his client is a man “with a long and distinguished history of public service”, severing in both the military and the police over a 30-year period. He said that Gabbott is remorseful and accepts the shame he has brought on himself and those that he cares about.
Mr Jones said the relative spoken about was not real and “all fantasy”. Judge Jason Taylor KC interjected, stating: “Clearly a sexual fantasy”.
He said Gabbott had stored the images “for a good purpose but that became an unlawful purpose” when he took the “foolish decision” to share the images he had access to.
“He is ashamed for having accessed this material and he is ashamed for sharing it in the way he did”, he added. “He has already recognised that he has a problem, and a problem that he knows needs to be addressed.”
Mr Jones said Gabbott is working with a psychotherapist and is motivated to change.
He finished addressing the court by asking for a suspended sentence, stating: “He has faced punishment already to an extent, his reputation in tatters in many people’s eyes. There has already been press coverage of this case which has had an effect.”
Judge Taylor told Gabbott that he “clearly derived sexual pleasure” from the images.
“Unfortunately the children in the images you sent weren’t fantasy figures, they were real”, he said.
“I accept that you are remorseful, and encouragingly, you have taken steps to address your offending behaviour. It’s clear you still have some distance to travel in that regard.
“It is disappointing that you show little victim empathy [in the pre-sentence report].”
Gabbott was handed a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years. He must complete 175 hours of unpaid work and 60 rehabilitation activity days – including a sex offender programme.
He will be placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and a sexual harm prevention order was imposed to run alongside. He must also pay costs of £425 costs.
The offences were dated between 18 September 2021 and 14 January 2022.
