Cambridge Professor Obtains 2,000 CP on Dark Web Only Receives 1 Year Sentence

Simon Jarvis, a 53-year-old professor at the prestigious educational institution Cambridge University, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to the possession and distribution of Category A child pornography.

Law enforcement agencies and investigators often categorize child pornography to three levels: Category A, B and C, with A being the most serious. It was revealed that Jarvis was in possession of over 2,000 videos and images of child pornography, with 45 of the images belonging to Category A.

According to the investigators, Jarvis went as far as to distribute some of Category C child pornography images on public social media platforms such as Tumblr. Jarvis also admittedly told the investigators that he dealt with child pornography since 2000 and had a “fantasy” of children as young as four.

At the Cambridge Crown Court, Jarvis pleaded guilty to all four charges filed against him, which included two counts of child pornography distribution and five charges of child pornography possession.

In a rather surprising turn of events, the court closed the case with a short sentence of 12 months, two-year suspension and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. Most individuals charged for the possession and distribution of child pornography have faced significantly harsher legal consequences in the past.

Judge David Farrell QC attributed the court’s decision to the apologetic attitude of Jarvis. Judge Farrell further emphasized that the choice of Jarvis to plead guilty to all charges and his lawyer Claire Matthews’ comment on Jarvis’ deteriorating mental health and issues allowed the court to grant a 12-month sentence.

Judge Farrell said:

“You are an intelligent man, a professor of English literature at the University of Cambridge. As such, in my judgment, you must have known that by accessing and viewing indecent images of children you were indirectly encouraging the abuse of children. You were looking at these images for your own perverted sexual gratification.’

Upon the closure of the case, Judge Farrell reaffirmed that Jarvis took the appropriate approach after the initial arrest to receive treatment for his addiction to porn. As such, Farrell granted a two-year suspension period for Jarvis for the recovery and treatment of his addition through psychological therapy amongst other methods.

The NCA and its CEOP Command Martin Ludlow reiterated the previous statement of Farrell to emphasize that an individual like Jarvis should recognize and acknowledge that the possession of child pornography is only made possible through the sexual abuse of children and directly encourages such horrific criminal act. Ludlow noted that the NCA along with local and international law enforcement agencies will continue to prosecute those who encourage the distribution and production of child pornography.

Ludlow stated:

“Whilst there is no evidence to suggest there has been any contact abuse by Jarvis, every image in his possession was created as a result of a child being sexually abused. The NCA will continue to work with law enforcement colleagues, both within the UK and internationally, to identify and prosecute those who pose a risk to children and young people.”

DeepDotWeb previously reported that the NCA is focusing on the crackdown of darknet marketplaces and dark web criminals. In fact, in December of 2015, the United Kingdom’s main intelligence agency, the GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), partnered with the NCA to launch a task force to reduce criminal activities on the dark web.

At the time, NCA Director Keith Bristow said:

“The explosion in online communication channels has brought huge benefits for society. It has also significantly expanded the means by which criminals can share information, plan crimes including the sexual exploitation of children, and target victims. The JOC is a genuinely innovative development, using the best of our respective agencies’ skills to tackle the most complex cases and the most dangerous offenders online.”