6 Oct 2021
Walter Dingemanse has been handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence after being found in possession of indecent images of young children and extreme images of animals.
Vet Times
Job Title
A vet has been handed a suspended eight-month prison term after being caught with indecent images of children and animals.
Oxford Crown Court heard how police raided the home of 35-year-old Walter Dingemanse in Streatley, near Reading, after a tip-off that he’d been swapping messages on the Kik app, boasting of sexually abusing a girl and saying he wanted to set up a group for “pervy dads”.
Sentencing him to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, Judge Michael Gledhill QC said: “You trained as a vet, you successfully undertook a PhD in canine joint biomechanics and you have been working in this country for at least three years as a veterinary physiotherapist for dogs.
“I immediately ask myself how can a man of such ability and intelligence stoop so low as to actively engage with conversation with another male about fantasy sex with children and talking about your desire to have sexual relations with a four-year-old.
“It is quite impossible to understand, and I have read with care the pre-sentence report and the character references that help a little way to explain why it came about that you relieved the loneliness you felt during the time of these offences by taking part in those conversations, aided with this filthy material that you had downloaded.”
He added of the bestiality pornography: “Bearing in mind your profession I find that very concerning indeed.”
Prosecutor Alice Aubrey-Fletcher said police had received intelligence linking Dingemanse’s internet IP address to a message thread on web application Kik.
The veterinary surgeon, using the username John11Leng, shared fantasies of being “sexually active with his 16-year-old daughter until she was 10 years old”. He suggested they set up a group for “pervy dads”.
“The defendant claimed to be interested in children younger than four years old,” Ms Aubrey-Fletcher said.
Police officers raided his home in Streatley on Valentine’s Day 2019 and seized a number of devices. Found on a hard drive were two category A indecent images of children, one category B picture and seven images in category C. He also had 22 extreme pornographic images showing people having sex with animals.
In a prepared statement, Dingemanse told the police officers interviewing him that the images were his. He confessed he was “deeply ashamed and disgusted” with himself. His boasts on Kik had been “entirely fictitious”, he added.
Dingemanse had earlier pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to possession of indecent images of children and extreme pornography. He had no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Alistair Grainger said his client was remorseful and had got professional counselling since being arrested. He argued – successfully – that a sexual harm prevention order designed to restrict Dingemanse’s access to the internet was not necessary to protect the public.
Dingemanse was also ordered to pay £420 costs, carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and complete a 40-day sex offender rehabilitation programme. He will be a registered sex offender for 10 years.
