Coronation Street actor Eric Potts given suspended sentence for child abuse images
Eric Potts, known for playing Diggory Compton in Coronation Street, avoided jail after admitting to making and distributing indecent images of children.
Former soap star Eric Potts escapes prison over child abuse image offences
Eric Potts, the Scottish actor best known for playing baker Diggory Compton in Coronation Street, has avoided a custodial sentence after police found 83 indecent images and videos of children on his personal devices, dailymail.com reports.
Burnley Crown Court sentenced the 61-year-old to 26 months in prison, suspended for 30 months. He was also issued a Sexual Harm Prevention Order prohibiting him from being alone with any boy under the age of 16 for ten years.
Potts pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child and three counts of distributing indecent images of a child at an earlier hearing.
Judge Daniel Prowse addressed Potts directly in court: "Some of these images and videos featured children as young as 11 or 12. Each of these children in these videos is a real child somewhere in the world and each of them is either being required to abuse another child or is themselves being sexually abused."
Prowse added: "Make no mistake, these images that you have were of children being sexually abused and the impact on them is magnified when these images are shared."
Police raid uncovers extensive collection
Officers raided the married father-of-two's home in Bacup, Lancashire, in October last year after receiving a tip that Potts had uploaded an indecent video of a child to a file-sharing website. Police seized his iPhone, iPad, PC and HP laptop, and found internet searches relating to "young gay boys."
Of the 83 items recovered, five videos and two images fell into Category A — the most severe classification. A further 14 images and two videos were deemed Category B, with 59 pictures and one video categorised as Category C.
Investigators also uncovered a sexually explicit conversation on the messaging application Telegram, conducted under the alias Rob Mitchell. Prosecutor Richard Flook told the court: "The content of that chat between Mr Potts using the name Rob Mitchell, and another user, is sexually explicit, and Mr Potts says in it that he is attracted to teenage boys aged around 15 and 16. He sends images throughout the chat and talks about his fantasies and kinks."
Potts himself admitted in the chat to being obsessed with and attracted to underage boys.
Defence cites personal history and consequences
Potts, originally from Irvine, Ayrshire, appeared in the dock dressed in a suit and carrying a rucksack. He now uses a walking stick following two failed suicide attempts after the raid on his home.
Defence counsel Rachel Wilson told the court that Potts had no previous convictions and was "truly and genuinely remorseful" for his offending. "He accepted that it is repugnant and he is disgusted and ashamed of his behaviour," Wilson said.
Wilson described the case as having "a devastating effect on all aspects of his life," noting that his 38-year marriage had broken down, that his relationships with his children had been severed, and that his acting career was effectively over. "There is very little if no prospect of him ever returning to the industry he was once in," she told the court.
Wilson also told the judge that Potts had been sexually abused as a teenager by a family member, which "may have impacted on his behaviour."
Career spanning decades
Potts appeared in Coronation Street 50 times between 2005 and 2006, following earlier guest roles on the programme. His television work also included appearances in Brookside, Casualty, Heartbeat and Doctor Who.
Source: The Sun