A sick paedophile who flashed a child abuse video at two 10-year-old boys on an internet video chatroom has walked free. Daniel Bates appeared at the Old Bailey after admitting 15 child sex offences, which included making a young girl strip and fondle her brother, and using a spy-cam to film a young boy as he got changed.
The 25-year-old, of Manor Way in Bromley, was described by the judge as ‘very disturbed’ with an ‘uncontrolled proclivity’ for children, but his vile crimes were not enough to send him into the overcrowded prison system where sick perverts like Bates can wait over a year for access to a rehabilitative programme, the court heard on Thursday, March 14.
Bates was first questioned by police on March 22, 2022, after intelligence showed someone at his address was uploading indecent images of children. When police burst into his parents’ South London home, and pulled him aside, he fessed up and his devices were seized for forensic analysis.
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Under questioning Bates mentioned using Omegle, an internet chatroom that allows strangers to meet each other over a video call. This proved crucial, as a scan of his Apple MacBook not only uncovered hundreds of indecent images, including one of a six-year-old boy, but sordid recordings of Omegle video calls Bates had with young children.
They included Bates showing two young girls a video of a young boy with the comment ‘Do you like that LOL?’. Another time he asked two 10-year-old boys ‘Do you want to see girls?’ then flashed a video of a four-year-old girl. “The boys were giggling but looked shocked,” said prosecutor Martin Ingle.
Mr Ingle also described one incident when Bates asked a girl, who was sitting next to her brother, to do acts for him, Mr Ingle told the court.
A review of a Seagate hard drive also uncovered images taken by Bates using a hidden camera. The shocking discovery included photos of a boy, thought to be eight to 10 years old, and 11 photos of the same boy while he was asleep.
‘I was in a bad place’
While police reviewed his devices, Bates was released under investigation and warned to be on his best behaviour. But on October 12 2023, after six months on police bail, officers learned Bates just could not help himself and had uploaded a Category A image, the worst kind, on Snapchat. The deviant was arrested again on October 19, 2023, with a new warrant to search through his devices.
When police asked Bates if he knew why they were there and then about the image, he said ‘I think so’ and ‘I was in a bad place at the time’. After seizing his SD cards, police found another stash of indecent images. A search of his Samsung phone also revealed sexual conversations with a 14-year-old boy, during which Bates sent him a sexually graphic photo.
After his second arrest, Bates charged with the following 15 offences:
- making indecent images x6
- causing a child to watch sexual activity x3
- engaging in sexual communication with a child x2
- distributing indecent images x2
- voyeurism
- taking an indecent photograph of a child
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‘I would never wish to offend again’
Bates asked his barrister to say sorry on his behalf before she explained his trauma-related mental health issues. The defence also revealed Bates had taken up sewing and appeared at the Old Bailey in a suit sewn all by himself.
In a letter to the judge, Bates wrote ‘I hate myself for what I have done. I would never wish to offend again and would do anything to prevent myself from doing so’.
Judge John Hillen said Bates’ ‘unremarkable’ outward appearances hid ‘a very disturbed young man’ with an addiction to child pornography. He concluded that although Bates ‘richly deserves’ to go to prison, a sex offender rehabilitation programme would not be available there.
Instead Judge Hillen sentenced him to two years suspended for two years with an order to complete a rehabilitation programme. Bates must also sign the sex offenders register for a decade, and he is subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.
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