Jury finds internet child porn downloader guilty
At Exeter Crown Court, 44-year-old Anthony Fell was found guilty by a jury on six of the 11 charges he faced. He was cleared on the remaining counts and sentence was adjourned for the preparation of reports.
During the course of the trial the prosecution claimed that Fell, who worked as a management and information administrator for the children and young persons business unit, was caught after a senior audit manager received a tip-off that someone was downloading unauthorised software on to his work computer.
The subsequent investigation led to Fell and, in addition to his council computer being seized, police raided his home and took away other computer equipment.
Fell, of Cheyne Rise, Exeter, maintained that other people used his computer at work and as far as the images allegedly found on his computers at home he said he had downloaded adult pornography and the indecent pictures of children must have come through accidentally. He said he had no knowledge of those images and also said that a fellow employee at the council had asked him to research the My Space social networking site on the internet to make sure that it was safe for children to use.
Fell, who denied all 11 charges, was released on bail. He will be sentenced by Judge Paul Darlow on September 22.
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