A man has been jailed after a fellow passenger caught him watching child abuse videos on a train. David Johnson, 35, from Wandsworth, was on a service from Stafford to London on 23 September last year when he was seen messaging a contact asking what videos they liked, before replying: “Just kids videos.”
The passenger sitting behind Johnson saw him open a video showing a young child being abused, followed by another involving a younger child. The witness moved carriages and alerted British Transport Police. Officers met the train at London Euston station and arrested Johnson on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.
When his phone was seized, officers found his wallpaper was also an indecent image of a child. While in custody, Johnson asked for his phone back because he “needed to delete some stuff”. Analysis later uncovered nearly 200 indecent images, including 105 Category A images – the most serious level. Messages also revealed Johnson believed he was speaking to a 13-year-old girl and had arranged to meet her for sex, though the child did not exist.
Johnson was charged in December and, on 1 April, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to two years and three months in prison. He had pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent images of children, two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and arranging or facilitating a child sex offence. He was also handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offenders register for a decade.
Detective Constable Victoria Lowth praised the quick-thinking witness, saying: “The quick thinking and courage of the man who saw Johnson’s phone meant that we were able to quickly arrest him and uncover the scale of his offending. I’d like to offer our sincerest thanks to that man, whose actions have directly led to Johnson’s imprisonment.” She added that behind every image and video was a vulnerable child exploited and abused, and that Johnson was “clearly a danger to children”.
