Totton man Mark Savage jailed after downloading nearly 2,000 indecent images of children being abused

A NEW Forest man downloaded nearly 2,000 indecent pictures of children being sexually abused – some newborns – over a period of six years.

Mark Savage (37) continued to seek out horrific pictures of youngsters – some featuring “extreme” abuse including the rape of a four-year-old girl – even after he had been arrested.

Southampton Crown Court heard that Savage, of Fritham Close, Totton, had obtained the images from other paedophiles through online chat and WhatsApp groups.

Prosecutor Lisa Bowles said the ages of children in the photos Savage had downloaded ranged from newborns to 15-year-olds.

She told how Savage had been arrested on 8th May 2022 after police were told he had been sharing indecent images of children.

A search of his home found a mobile phone which contained other photos of youngsters. He was arrested and interviewed but made no comment.

Savage was released on bail but in February 2023 police were told he had been sharing images again.

He was arrested and three mobile phones were seized on which more indecent photos of children were found.

Miss Bowles said the investigation showed Savage had been downloading indecent images of children for six years from 2017.

There were 618 of the most serious category A, 451 of category B and 871 category C.

The downloaded images also included videos. Savage had also shared three category A images, three category B and three category C.

Miss Bowles said Savage had been sent the images on chat rooms and had also asked for pictures and links to paedophile sites.

The defendant had two previous convictions for similar offences, the court heard, and had received a caution for indecently exposing himself in 2007 to a schoolgirl.

Savage had earlier pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing category A, B and C indecent images of children. He also admitted two charges of possessing prohibited images of children and one of distributing indecent images of children.

The court heard, however, that because of a delay in examining the content of the phones it had not been possible to ascertain whether Savage had continued to share photos of children after his first arrest.

Defending, Stephen Tricker said he recognised the custody threshold had been “well truly” reached in Savage’s case but asked the judge to impose a suspended sentence.

He said he realised the very young ages of some of the children were “aggravating features” and also the “extreme nature of sexual abuse”.

But he said Savage had previously complied with the conditions of a suspended sentence and although he was not suffering from a mental illness he “clearly” was educationally below “national standards”.

Mr Tricker said Savage’s parents, who sat weeping in court, were being “supportive” to their son and the defendant “could be put on a path where he doesn’t commit this sort of offence going forward”.

But Judge Christopher Parker told Mr Tricker that Savage’s case had “significantly aggravating” features including the fact he had continued to download indecent images of children after his arrest, the “extreme nature” of the abuse and the ages of the children.

He said Savage had “plainly” been seeking photos of children and had “interests in very young children being raped and sexually assaulted”.

Addressing the defendant, the judge added there was “very little that can be said in your favour” and that his learning difficulties had “not stopped you from holding down a job or going after these types of images”.

“What you did went on for far too long and you continued making images of very young children after you were arrested,” he added.

Savage was jailed for 20 months and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He will serve half in prison and be released subject to conditions.