Judge jails 'evil' paedophile who took pictures while abusing young girl

An "evil" paedophile who took pictures as he abused a young girl has been jailed for more than six years.

Martin Rowley, 45, was caught when Staffordshire Police searched his home after he had uploaded an indecent image onto social media.

Officers discovered a camera in a locked drawer next to his bed which was later found to contain images of him sexually abusing a child.

Examination of his computer files revealed he had also been viewing indecent images of children.

Rowley, from the Stoke area, was sentenced to six years and eight months in jail at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, the Stoke Sentinel reported.

He pleaded guilty to assault by penetration of a child under the age of 13 and three charges of taking indecent photographs of a child.

He also admitted making indecent images of a child and making an indecent moving image of a child, which related to material he uploaded online.

Sentencing, Judge Jinder Singh Boora branded Rowley "an evil man who has committed an evil crime".

A statement from the girl's mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was read out at the court.

It read: "Since being made aware of the despicable and evil actions of Martin Rowley, my life has fallen apart. I feel my world has collapsed – there's no light at the end of the tunnel."

Robert Glenn, mitigating, said Rowley has been left "disgusted" by his offences.

He said: "Mr Rowley states he was intoxicated at the time of the offences. He doesn't offer that as an excuse, but he became aware of the offence from seeing the images on his camera and as soon as he saw them he deleted them. The images were recovered from the deleted section of the camera.

"He feels sick and disgusted by his actions and is devastated by what he has done."

On top of his sentence, Rowley was handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the Sex Offenders' Register for the rest of his life.