Paedophile who insists he is no longer ‘addicted’ to vile images avoids jail

Stevan Edouard (48), of Willowbank Gardens, north Belfast, was sentenced to two years on probation last week in an effort to help him to deal with his offending.

The pervert had previously pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court to three counts of making indecent images of children.

When approached about his crimes, Edouard insisted he no longer views indecent images of children online and said it was something he wanted to leave it in the past.

Edouard told our reporter: “This is something that happened five years ago and now I want to get rid of it, to leave it behind, because I’m not into these things any more.

“Since this all happened I just want to move on and not have my name in the newspapers.

“I don’t think this case is so interesting to be published. You might have something more interesting to tell.”

During Edouard’s prosecution, Belfast Crown Court heard police conducted a planned search of his home under a warrant to recover indecent images of children on May 16, 2017.

Edouard was not at home at the time and police went to his workplace to speak to him where he immediately accepted responsibility for the indecent images on his laptop.

The French national told police at the time: “I am addicted to it. It’s like a drug. I can’t stop looking.”

During a police interview he admitted making the indecent images and said he had been committing the offence for the past five years.

His laptop was examined and was found to contain 738 indecent pictures and videos, with 243 in the most serious category.

Mr Justice Fowler said Edouard was a single man who had been living in Northern Ireland for the past 13 years.

“He is in full-time employment, but he is likely to lose that because of his offending,’’ said the judge.

A Probation Service report found that although Edouard had victim insight into his offending, he needed to undertake work “regarding his deviant sexual fantasies’’.

Mr Justice Fowler sentenced him to supervision in the community on a sex offenders programme, saying it would benefit the public in the long term.

Edouard was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years.