Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show a record number of people convicted of child abuse image offences avoided prison last year, with 2,108 receiving suspended jail terms.
The total represents more than half of the record 3,962 people sentenced for making, distributing or possessing indecent photographs of children in 2025, meaning an average of 40 internet perverts a week escaped immediate custody. Fewer than one in five of those convicted ended up behind bars, with others receiving community sentences or fines.
Suspended sentences more than double since 2020
The 2,108 suspended sentences handed down last year is more than double the 919 given in 2020 and the highest number since the MoJ began publishing comparable figures in 2017.
Just 696 offenders were sent immediately to prison in 2025, a custody rate of 17.6%, down from 23.4% in 2017. Another 1,096 offenders received community sentences, made up of 989 community orders, 101 referral orders for young offenders and six youth rehabilitation orders. Community punishments accounted for 27.7% of all sentences in 2025, the smallest share in the nine-year run, as courts increasingly opted for suspended jail terms instead. A further 21 offenders received conditional discharges, 12 were fined and eight were given an absolute discharge.
High-profile cases among those spared jail
Among those who avoided prison was former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards, given a six-month sentence suspended for two years at Westminster Magistrates in September 2024. Edwards, then 63, admitted three charges of making indecent images after being sent 41 illegal pictures and videos over WhatsApp, seven in the most serious category.
Former Premier League referee David Coote, 43, also avoided prison in January 2026, receiving nine months suspended for two years and 150 hours of unpaid work. Nottingham Crown Court heard Coote had downloaded a category A video showing a 15-year-old boy in school uniform.
Rise in young offenders
The data also shows a sharp rise in young offenders, with 385 people aged under 21 sentenced for the offences in 2025, against 171 in 2017. Among them were 108 children aged between 10 and 17, more than double the 47 dealt with in 2017, of whom 96% received community sentences.
Kevin Moore, a retired Detective Chief Superintendent and former Head of Sussex Police CID, said: “All such offences are abhorrent and many people seeing these statistics will be appalled. However, we do need to take into account all of the circumstances of each individual offence. The types of images may have a bearing on this as well as the age of the offender.”
“Ordinarily, it would be highly unlikely that young persons under the age of 17 years would receive a custodial sentence when other forms of punishment involving some kind of remedial therapy or treatment would be more appropriate. All such offenders should have their names included on the Sex Offenders Register which then ensures that they are made subject of monitoring as regards their future behaviour.”
A spokesperson for Project 90-10, which campaigns, raises awareness, and works to prevent child sexual abuse, said: “Every single image reflects a real abused child. Life is not long enough to repay that harm. When four out of five people caught with child abuse images avoid prison, it tells victims their suffering is negotiable. The punishment must be harsher because this crime is not passive. It is active participation in CSA.”
“Every image is a crime scene. Every child in those images was abused in real life. When only one in five offenders receive a custodial sentence, we are not protecting children. We are protecting offenders. Suspended sentences minimise the harm and undermine public trust. They send a message that viewing child sexual abuse is somehow less serious than committing it. It is not. It is participation in the abuse and it fuels the demand that keeps these children in danger.”
“We keep seeing the same pattern across very different cases. Whether it is a high-profile figure like Huw Edwards or a repeat offender in the courts, the problem is the same. Our systems minimise sexual harm and underestimate the danger these behaviours represent. Children are forgotten while adults are excused. That must change.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Public protection is our priority, and while sentences are decided by independent judges, community sentences can include tough requirements like curfews, tagging and exclusion zones – offenders who breach them can be jailed. This government is restoring order to a justice system left on the brink of collapse - building 14,000 new places, launching the biggest ever expansion of tagging, and giving victims a say in the strict licence conditions.”
