London - A British man was convicted on
Monday of importing a lifelike child sex doll in what police
said was a landmark case in the fight against a new form of sex
crime against children.
David Turner, 72, admitted having sex with the
3-foot-10-inch (1.17 metre) doll, described by the National
Crime Agency (NCA) as "anatomically detailed and correct". He
also bought clothes for it.
The NCA said that in previous cases where such items had
been imported, defendants had pleaded guilty to importing an
obscene object, but Turner had asked a judge to decide if his
doll was indecent or obscene in the eyes of the law.
Judge Simon James ruled on Monday at Canterbury Crown Court
in southern England that it was, making clear that such dolls
are included in a category of obscene items whose import into
Britain is prohibited.
Hazel Stewart of the NCA's Child Exploitation and Online
Protection team said the import of child sex dolls into Britain
was a relatively new phenomenon.
"We know their purchase can indicate other offences against
children, as was the case against Turner who had a sickening
stash of abuse images," she said in a statement.
A lifelike child sex doll imported from China by David Turner is seen in an image handed out by the National Crime Agency after he was convicted of importing it in what police said was a landmark case in the fight against a new form of sex crime. Picture: Reuters
"Importers of such obscene items should expect to have law
enforcement closing in on them."
Turner, who had a formal role in the oversight of a local
school and was a church warden, was arrested in November last
year after customs officers at Stansted Airport intercepted a
3-foot sex doll that had been imported from China. It came with
a fishnet body-stocking.
When police searched Turner's home in southeast England,
they found more than 34,000 indecent images of children aged
three to 16 on computers and hard drives, as well as two other
child sex dolls. He had viewed websites selling items with
descriptions such as "flat chest love doll".
The charge of which he was convicted on Monday related to
the import of one of the dolls he already had at home.
He will be sentenced on September 8.
Child protection charities called on the government to act
to ensure that ownership of child sex dolls was treated as
seriously as possession of images of child abuse.
"There is a risk that those using these child sex dolls or
realistic props could become desensitised and their behaviour
becomes normalised to them, so that they go on to harm children
themselves, as is often the case with those who view indecent
images," said Jon Brown of the National Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children.