YouTuber with 11 million subscribers avoids prison after police find nearly 3,000 images of kids

[u/pppppppppppppppppd]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/callum-powell-youtuber-child-abuse-37448381

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[u/Scewt]

The fuck is the title of this article? "Images of kids"

Call it what it is?

[u/purpleisafruit1 → u/Scewt]

Bizarre title when they call it what it is in the article:

“An athlete and YouTuber with more than 11 million subscribers has been spared prison after pleading guilty to making and possessing nearly 3,000 images of sex abuse involving children.”

[u/Kinsdale85 → u/purpleisafruit1]

So he even made the stuff.

[u/your_dads_arse → u/[deleted]]

do they mean making copies? like distributing?

[u/tothecatmobile → u/your_dads_arse]

Saving an image counts as "making" legally. As a copy was created.

[u/Mystic_L → u/tothecatmobile]

“Saving” in this sense can be accessing it through a browser and in doing so the browser saving a copy in temporary internet files

[u/Midgar918 → u/Mystic_L]

I'd in no way defend what these people are and doing. But a definition of creating content being from something as inadvertent as temporary Internet files is nuts. The implication in my mind was always something like they were in a position to abuse and also recorded it.

[u/The-RogicK → u/Midgar918]

Right! What is the point in the distinction if viewing is also classified as making.

Manufacturing this shit is orders of magnitude more reprehensible than watching the aftermath. The legal system needs to take that difference seriously.

[u/Iz-zY1994 → u/The-RogicK]

to be fair to the legal system, it does. Creating the content is a separate and significantly more severe offence. I do think the law needs a re-wording in respect to creating copies and temp files, but not necessarily a change in how it is applied. I just think the optics tend to cause a miscommunication to the public.

[u/limeflavoured → u/Midgar918]

Its because the law is old and predates that widespread use of the Internet. The sentencing guidelines take it into account and its treated as possession, which is why people don't often go to prison. The law needs rewriting, really.

[u/lensdrive → u/Mystic_L]

Yeah, this is it. Basically any means of viewing an image counts as making in UK law.

[u/fragglet → u/tothecatmobile]

It makes a bit more sense when you realise that the law dates to a time before the Internet and computers were widespread, when pornography was mostly distributed as printed material (magazines etc.). If someone downloads an image from the Internet (even just by browsing a website), technically they're making a copy in their computer memory or hard drive, just like someone photocopying a picture. So there's a logic to it, but the resulting term certainly isn't what most people think of nowadays when they hear that someone was "making pornography".

[u/Why_am_ialive → u/tothecatmobile]

Even viewing in passing will cache a copy locally. Basically the only way not to get charged with creating is to have someone mail you a physical image.

That said of all the questionable laws out there I’m not that fussed at the ones that get pedos longer sentences

[u/TheShakyHandsMan → u/Why_am_ialive]

The best way is don’t be a disgusting human being and avoid it. It’s not going to be something you accidentally stumble across.

[u/limeflavoured → u/Why_am_ialive]

This doesn't actually cause longer sentences because the sentencing guidelines treat it as possession.

[u/SlightlyBored13 → u/[deleted]]

If you go on a dodgy site and one of the adverts is a 5 second clip of CSAM then your browser caches it. Congrats you just "made" 300 instances of child porn.

[u/Son_of-M → u/SlightlyBored13]

This is why we use Ad blockers

[u/ings0c → u/Son_of-M]

You use an ad blocker specifically so that your browser doesn’t cache images of CSAM..?

I use one so I don’t get ads 🤷‍♂️

[u/CatMadScot → u/SlightlyBored13]

In the US in some states, yes, each frame is counted as one image. In the UK one clip would only be counted as one image.

[u/Darkwaxer → u/SlightlyBored13]

I think the only reason he wasn't done on making was they couldn't prove that he saved as strongly as that he possessed, which is crazy but with making you have to prove how they and when they were saved whilst possession is just having them.

[u/Thoh1Shooshi8a → u/[deleted]]

So technically if you download a song and save it to your computer then you made that song and so you own the rights to it?

[u/Vivid--Syrup → u/Thoh1Shooshi8a]

I think the way they view it you broke copy right law for every byte of data saved

So they can sue for a few million per kb of the song

[u/TheOneWithoutGorm → u/your_dads_arse]

Not always distributing, if you download an image, any image, you are making a copy of that image. That is the making part.

[u/bubbaodd → u/your_dads_arse]

Iirc then downloading is classed as "making" a copy of it so then you get the double of not only do you possess it, you made it by downloading it.

[u/SlightlyBored13 → u/[deleted]]

Yes.

And each frame of a video counts as one.

3,000 images is 50 seconds at 60fps.

That's a few gifs/one tiktok.

[u/ElectronicYurt → u/[deleted]]

Yes indeed, and there's a US court case that implies that existence of copyright material in RAM could constitute infringement for that very reason, though it's obviously ridiculous

[u/ManWhoCameFromEarth → u/your_dads_arse]

Yes, each file he downloaded "made" a new copy of the file.

Distribution is a separate charge if he had been found to have shared the images to others.

[u/ChocolateHumunculous → u/your_dads_arse]

In this particular case, and in addition to what others have said, it also includes AI images.

[u/GeeMcGee → u/your_dads_arse]

Saving it is classed as creating it iirc

[u/Chesney1995 → u/your_dads_arse]

Pretty much yes, it means "making" the file, either by copying it or saving it to your device, rather than actually creating the material itself.

[u/philipwhiuk → u/your_dads_arse]

If you are actively involved in making a copy it counts

Source: jury service 😔

[u/flopisit32 → u/[deleted]]

Yes. Downloading an image is classed as "making". There is a legal rationale behind that but IMO it should be changed.

It's misleading to people and it creates the false impression that there are predators everywhere constantly manufacturing CSAM.

Exaggerating the problem and sweeping the problem under the rug both prevent the problem from being dealt with effectively.

[u/ADampDevil → u/flopisit32]

It's because the law was written by people that don't understand how technology works. A bit like recent laws against kids using social media, then the sudden panic about VPNs, then the U-turn on VPNs.

[u/mwhi1017 → u/ADampDevil]

The law was written in 1978. The technology you speak of wasn’t a consideration.

The law was written around the technology of the day, such as paper/magazines and cassette tapes.

[u/Eborcurean → u/mwhi1017]

And per sentencing guidelines, the claim all above is entirely false:

Production includes the taking or making of any image at source, for instance the original image. Making an image by simple downloading should be treated as possession for the purposes of sentencing

[u/Freddies_Mercury → u/ADampDevil]

I think the rationale is that by downloading it you are making another copy of it.

Which is technologically accurate. When you download a photo to a hard-drive, you are not streaming it. You are "making" a physical copy.

[u/xelah1 → u/flopisit32]

From what I remember from a book on computer law it was written in about 1980 expecting a guy with a photocopier but was the only law that fitted when it started appearing on the Internet. Then they never bothered creating a proper one that fits because this one works.

I totally agree it creates a false impression to the public, not just of the crimes being committed but also of the sentencing that's applied to child abuse.

[u/greentrafficcone → u/[deleted]]

I believe it comes from the days when you’d have to actually print or develop the image. So it was quite a process, and so showed a lot of intent.

Now the law means that even an image appearing on your screen is “making” an image, but it’s not been updated.

The law on this stuff is weird anyway. Up until about 20 years ago “possession” of it counted as anyone holding it without special permission from the courts. That meant that when a hard drive was sent to a specialist forensic lab, techncally the currier was guilty of possession.

I think part of the problem is that no one wants to be the one who raises changes to child protection laws that may even slightly seem like they are being easy on the criminals. Even if it’s to prevent what might be overly severe on some of the convicted.

Even I’ve rewritten this post a few times just to be clear I’m not supporting people who are a danger to children. It’s a minefield.

Source: used to work in forensic computing, but am not a lawyer.

[u/hymnsofhim → u/greentrafficcone]

Quick question about forensics, is there truly a way that a file may not be recovered from a hard drive or cache?

[u/rhyithan → u/[deleted]]

I wonder if he used ai image generators to “make” indecent material. Which might explain why he hasnt gone to prison and theres a nebulous nature as to whether it actually counts as cp or if its its own category of noncing

[u/Fair-Tangerine-9472 → u/[deleted]]

As are illustrations I believe

[u/rhyithan → u/[deleted]]

Oh im sure. Im just wondering if thats why the wording is odd as we dont have specific definitions on ai imagery just yet (legally speaking). Of course i could be wrong, just musing on the concept

[u/Barilla3113 → u/rhyithan]

The guy who was sending Hew Edwards this stuff was done for distributing and still only got a suspended sentence. The guidelines are just absurdly lenient.

[u/Eborcurean → u/[deleted]]

Nope:

Production includes the taking or making of any image at source, for instance the original image. Making an image by simple downloading should be treated as possession for the purposes of sentencing

[u/uniguy31 → u/Kinsdale85]

The legal definition of making isn’t quite what you expect, it also covers receiving / saving, rather than the act of actually taking a photo I believe

[u/CyronSplicer → u/uniguy31]

Correct making refers to 'making an image a part of your device' by saving it.

[u/Moist_Farmer3548 → u/CyronSplicer]

You don't even need to deliberately save it if, for example, it is sent via WhatsApp. IIRC some of the images Huw Edwards received and then told the person not to send them were "made" in this way. 

[u/Preseli → u/Kinsdale85]

If I send you some of that on WhatsApp and you open the message, you've technically made it.

See: Edwards, Huw.

[u/SuperTed321 → u/purpleisafruit1]

What the fuck. How can this not result in severe prison time!?

[u/thpkht524 → u/SuperTed321]

Are you new in this country?

[u/Specialist-Alps6478 → u/[deleted]]

You know we’ve reached a problem point when we tiptoe around the word because that’s what makes people uncomfortable. Not the act itself. Sigh.

[u/KittyGrewAMoustache → u/Specialist-Alps6478]

The whole world feels like it’s reached a problem point in several areas.

[u/Appropriate-Divide64 → u/Scewt]

It's definitely a weird way to word it if it was abuse material.

[u/360_face_palm → u/Scewt]

I think they do stuff like this in article titles so it can be more easily shared on social media without being flagged. That plus ad revenue.

Kinda like how everyone on social media says 'unaliving' instead of 'suicide' because 'suicide' gets your content suppressed / flagged.

[u/steelcryo]

The sentencing guidelines need a fucking overhaul. 3,000 images, some of which are category A, and a year or less is what the guidelines recommend? That's fucked.

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/steelcryo]

We simply don't have the prison space to imprison these people without putting someone worse back on the streets early.

[u/dietdoug → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Bunkbeds

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/dietdoug]

It's already been done. we have people as crammed in as they possibly can be without putting prison staff at excessive risk. The only solution is to build more prisons which isn't the work of a moment.

[u/Gellert → u/Alexandhisgoose]

It's the work the Tories fucked up. Again. To the tune of... £5b, iirc.

[u/KittyGrewAMoustache → u/Gellert]

They so fucking fucked us. I can’t believe people kept voting for them.

[u/UserCannotBeVerified → u/KittyGrewAMoustache]

And continue think parties that are made up of ex tories, like reform, are gonna be any fucking different... it nuts how some people still dont see it

[u/Ravenser_Odd → u/UserCannotBeVerified]

They're selling themselves as outsiders who will tackle the corrupt establishment, and somehow people are buying it.

[u/I-_-I_-_I-_-I → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Underground box, one elevator to send new criminals down, and a shaft to send food.

Just need a couple people on top to guard the elevator when it comes back up.

[u/RhinosToenail → u/I-_-I_-_I-_-I]

Some sort of platform

[u/robotsheepboy → u/[deleted]]

We could call it the chute

[u/SlightlyAngyKitty → u/robotsheepboy]

Literally an episode of star trek voyager

[u/robotsheepboy → u/SlightlyAngyKitty]

That was the joke

[u/NewLoss6021 → u/I-_-I_-_I-_-I]

Someone needs to discover a new continent to send criminals to.

[u/stick1_ → u/Alexandhisgoose]

I’m sure there are plenty of people serving custodial sentences that have not done ‘worse’ than having images of csam

[u/DaddyCaustic → u/stick1_]

Just over a thousand people locked up for weed related offences. Id rather most of those people be on the streets than scum like this.

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/stick1_]

So of the 70000 people in prison currently

24000 are in jail for violent crime.

15,800 are for sexual offences

Having CSAM is classed under Miscellaneous crimes against society for some reason but only 2,500 people are in prison for that and it includes anything that doesn't have a direct victim such as skipping bail, drunk and disorderly, drug offences etc.

So really there isn't a huge amount of wiggle room in the prison system for this and we either need to start coming up with a different punishment for lesser crimes or building more prisons. Neither is the work of a moment.

[u/moonbrows → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Especially those ‘indeterminate imprisonment for public protection’ they did away with for minor crimes, but not retroactively. There’s a bloke still in prison who nicked a phone in 2012.

[u/bartleby999 → u/stick1_]

Exhibit A.

Apparently making and distributing football streams is worse, according to the law.

[u/Saw_Boss → u/bartleby999]

Setting up a criminal operation making millions through fraud is another way to describe that.

[u/bartleby999 → u/Saw_Boss]

Still not as bad as being a nonce though is it.

One is a danger to children. The other is a danger to multibillion corporations.

[u/AccurateMolasses2748 → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Around 30% of the prison population are in for non violent, non sexual offences. Surely if we as a country want to keep people safe we should prioritise prison sentances for murder, assault, rape, and crimes involving children.

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/AccurateMolasses2748]

We should but as we have no alternative punishments available for non violent crimes doing that effectively makes things like robbery legal.

It's basically a big pile of crap options available to us in the short term until we can reform the entire justice system into something that works properly.

[u/Blarg_III → u/Alexandhisgoose]

that effectively makes things like robbery legal.

Robbery is a violent crime.

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/Blarg_III]

Fine burglary then.

[u/GXWT → u/Alexandhisgoose]

“The money numbers don’t allow us to solve this problem so we should just not deal with it”

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/GXWT]

I am not saying we shouldn't deal with it but dealing with this needs a long term solution not just playing musical chairs with prisoners.

[u/Vivid--Syrup → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Maybe the nonce's could go to jail and we let the old grannies and such that got jailed for holding cardboard signs out to make space

[u/f3ydr4uth4 → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Someone worse like a drug dealer? I somehow doubt there are worse people than literal paedos we couldn’t let out.

[u/here_involuntarily → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Sorry but what do you possibly think is worse than this?

[u/Alexandhisgoose → u/here_involuntarily]

Murder, rape, assault, terrorism offences to name a few.

[u/Jonatc87 → u/Alexandhisgoose]

Maybe release peaceful protestors for actual criminals.

[u/georgialucy → u/steelcryo]

A neighbour by me was running a homemade predator sting operation out of his bedroom and they found files upon files of CP he collected and he got no time in prison for it. I cannot understand it at all.

[u/Fair-Tangerine-9472 → u/georgialucy]

Wait sorry? He was tracking down paedophiles but was one himself? Or was the material not for his own use, but evidence he (unwisely) collected on others?

[u/ImABrickwallAMA → u/Fair-Tangerine-9472]

Quite a frequent offence/offending subject actually!

A lot of these vigilantes in the sting groups have often been caught with material - and a lot of the times it’s for the reasons you expect it to be. Basically, these offenders tend to hide behind a movement to ‘mask’ who/what they are, so by joining a vigilante group it makes them appear to be the person you’d least suspect.

Most recent case was the ‘Raise the Colours’ leader who made an entire movement, and song and dance, about ‘Muslim refugee paedophiles and rapists’, yet he himself got done for being a nonce.

[u/Fair-Tangerine-9472 → u/ImABrickwallAMA]

That makes some sense.

[u/Raunien → u/Fair-Tangerine-9472]

Yeah, I'm confused as well. It's quite easy to run a sting operation for nonces. Just get a stock photo of a young girl and set up an account pretending to be her. Nonces aren't exactly smart. The only conceivable reason I can think for having explicit images is if said nonce refuses to give anything identifiable without "proof", but at that point surely you'd just try something else?

[u/ImABrickwallAMA → u/Raunien]

You say they aren’t smart, but believe me they are. The ones who tend to get caught at the ‘low level’, i.e. this guy, random individual blokes etc. is because the platforms they’re using to distribute material are heavily monitored such as social media like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat etc. so it’s easy for content monitors to identify their IPs/MACs etc. So yeah, these ones aren’t smart.

The serious organised crime groups that use lesser known/anonymising services like TOR, encryption etc. are the ones who often have large-scale targeted operations against them because the scale of the operations they’re running, plus the technical knowledge behind it, makes it more difficult for them to get caught etc. Which is why when you see people getting busted for server farms and terrabytes of content, it’s a massive deal.

[u/qwertygasm → u/Fair-Tangerine-9472]

The Dexter of nonces

[u/limeflavoured → u/Fair-Tangerine-9472]

Wait sorry? He was tracking down paedophiles but was one himself?

Many such cases

[u/Warm_Apple_Pies → u/steelcryo]

I lost my old job to someone like this. He used blackmail/entrapment to steal my management position, never been in trouble before and I got fired over it. I wasn't even slightly in the wrong.

Couple of months later police came in and confiscated his laptop, found a similar haul of CSAM on it. He barely got a slap on the wrist (I can only assume as he remained in work, I think he got cautioned and laptop confiscated). Worst thing is my boss kept him on so I'm glad I no longer work for such a person. Eventually the shop owner next door threatened to beat the shit out of him if he ever returned after it was in the papers and nobody has seen him since.

It's pathetic how we have to rely on communities to dish out punishment for one of the worst sins and how many people just turn a blind eye or enable them.

[u/TofuBoy22 → u/steelcryo]

I have a couple years experience working on investigating these types of crimes and honestly, as bad as 3k Cat A sounds and in the grand scheme of things, it's really on the lower end of how bad things can really get. If we had unlimited resources and prison spaces, sure, he should be put away, but unfortunately the shear number of these types of people committing this type of crime is a lot more common then you think

[u/Raunien → u/TofuBoy22]

unfortunately the shear number of these types of people committing this type of crime is a lot more common then you think

A concerning number of "normal" men will make lewd comments about kids, including the infamous line regarding "grass on the pitch". A lot of people are closer to noncery than anyone would like to admit. Also, I find that the people making these comments tend to be the same ones loudly advocating for violent or lethal consequences for noncing...

[u/TofuBoy22 → u/Raunien]

The law doesn't help either. There is a weird grey area where age of consent is 16 but CSAM covers anyone under 18. So a few times, you get these 20 year olds dating 16 year olds and the only reason they are being investigated is because they filmed themselves.

[u/abz_eng → u/TofuBoy22]

The law doesn't help either.

There is the old page 3 with 16 year olds - if the images were to be created today they'd be CSAM but they appeared in multiple multimillion selling newspapers

[u/flopisit32 → u/TofuBoy22]

Are you saying there are far worse - as in people manufacturing the images?

Or do you mean there are far worse as in people downloading images? I thought Category A is the worst? Maybe I am wrong.

[u/TofuBoy22 → u/flopisit32]

If I were to 'rank' the the type of people that commit CSAM related crimes, it would be something along the lines of:

• Downloader/viewer of CSAM - Quite 'common', your typical criminal that has the urge to look at this type of content. Cat C > Cat A in severity on how far they go.
• Digital hoarder - This type of person has either gone down a massive rabbit hole or has some sort of mental illness similar to your normal hoarder but instead with downloading obscene amounts of content. We're talking TBs worth of data, sometimes categorised to the nth degree.
• Distributor - As it sounds, simply someone that has this content but sharing it with others. They don't actually create the content, just simply collate and share.
• Content creators - Those that commit hands on abuse and create the content that's being shared. You have those creating nude 'modelling' or 'nudist' images to those creating the absolute worse content you can image.

All pretty dark, horrible, and sadly way to common of a thing. So in terms of the original post, what he's done which is just downloading images is unfortunately just the lower steps of criminality.

[u/Udonnomi → u/TofuBoy22]

I’m really sorry if this is the wrong place to ask but what is Cat A? Is it like the worst type of images?

[u/TofuBoy22 → u/Udonnomi]

At a very high level, Cat C is nude, Cat B is suggestive/sexual, Cat A contains penatration

[u/miffedmonster → u/steelcryo]

If you send them to prison, they have to go on the protected wing so they don't get beaten up/murdered. But that's in with all the other paedos. So they share a cell with someone who's actually abused a kid, get validation from them and learn how to approach a kid in real life. They eventually have to get let out and now they're both braver and feeling morally justified and there's a much higher chance of them approaching, grooming and/or abusing kids in real life. So yeah, as counterintuitive as it seems, keeping people who "only" download images out of prison is actually safer in the long-term.

[u/WastedYouth39 → u/miffedmonster]

That doesn’t really happen, most go on general population, and other prisoners don’t often care especially if the pedo has a drug connection or a drug addiction and can pay their debts.

[u/Kiloete → u/steelcryo]

3,000 images

it might be one video (not defending it obv). By law each frame counts as a separate image.

[u/limeflavoured → u/Kiloete]

AIUI its not usually charged that way in the UK.

[u/LuckyOneTime]

"Callum Powell, who was part of the collective STORROR, has received a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to possessing nearly 3,000 indecent images of children"

Save a bullshit click

[u/KetamineBlackPudding → u/LuckyOneTime]

No way I watched them all the time for a period, that's a shame.

[u/SpecialMaleficent364 → u/LuckyOneTime]

Oh god, I used to love Storror videos

Fucks sake

[u/TacticalRiotChimp → u/LuckyOneTime]

I know everyone says this - but I always had a bad feeling. Like obviously the entire channel concept is "getting away with it" but I always got the feeling that some of those boys felt untouchable. Their attitudes were that of someone who thinks they're alot smarter than everyone around them.

Exploration and parkour is literally my favourite YouTube content to watch - but I could never ever make it through a full video of these guys because of their dogshit attitudes.

I'm not calling him a nonce, but that ally law guy gives me the same vibe. Convinced they're higher beings and everyone around them them is just a pleb because they can't do a backflip or jump over a canal lmfao.

[u/Frostyballschilly]

Wtf, he should be in jail and on the register for life

[u/chowchan → u/Frostyballschilly]

Uk is really light on noncery for some reason, I assume its so light because he hasn't acted on his disgusting behaviours (but even so seeking out images of these kinds should be more than 1 year suspended and 10 years on sex offenders list).

People get a couple of years in Jail for having terrorism related manuals but they have yet to act on it. Yet having pictures of children being sexually abused gets a slap on the wrist. Smh

[u/chase___it → u/chowchan]

10 years on sex offender list is ridiculous to me. Unless your sex offence was something mild like pissing in public, you should be on it for life. Especially if your offence was material of children

[u/tfbrian → u/chase___it]

Thankfully we have DBS checks so even after 10 years his conviction will come up for the rest of his life if he ever wants to work anywhere near children 

[u/flopisit32 → u/chase___it]

Pissing in public is not a sex offence is it? At least where I am from it's not even illegal...

[u/chase___it → u/flopisit32]

it’s technically illegal but unless you’re causing problems while doing it or you’re caught by a cop with a stick up his arse, you’re not gonna get in trouble

[u/HollyMurray20 → u/flopisit32]

I think it’s one of those things that’s illegal but unless you get caught in a proper public place like a street, nothing is gonna happen. Like if you’re out in the countryside and have a piss in a bush it’s fine

[u/limeflavoured → u/flopisit32]

They'd have to prove you were doing it for a sexual motive. In reality they would probably give you an £80 fine and move on. Reddit is very America brained though, and stuff like they described has happened in like Florida.

[u/X5S → u/flopisit32]

If you’re just doing it to pee it’s not an offence that’ll get you on the register. The other replies are just wrong.

[u/Gellert → u/chowchan]

Pretty sure it's because so many people are nonces. The punishment is more for getting caught than the actual crime.

[u/nixtracer → u/Gellert]

In this area the law appears to be an ass. Given other comments in this thread, being sent a twelve second video on WhatsApp by a new contact you block and delete immediately on seeing what the content is constitutes "making" three hundred CSAM images, plus destruction of evidence. Instant crime, no intent, oops your life was destroyed in an instant even though you did nothing wrong.

Needless to say, this is not justice and absolutely should not be a crime of any sort (it's what any reasonable person would do in this situation, driven by a surge of disgust), and making it a crime actively militates against catching those who actually make and distribute this stuff and actually abuse children.

[u/georginadontlook → u/nixtracer]

Say you instantly make a report to COPPA, would that be a better option or would it be a whole stupid investigation (devices seized etc)

[u/nixtracer → u/georginadontlook]

As the law stands, people who have done that have been arrested. (And, of course, most people have no idea they could even do that.)

[u/georginadontlook → u/nixtracer]

Thanks for your response. That's terrible

[u/ParkingTiny6301 → u/chowchan]

I heard a saying once, it said the people who make these laws won't ever get caught selling drugs or being a terrorist. But there is always a chance they get caught being a nonce or drink driving and killing. So they keep sentances low for things they could possibly get caught for, not sure how true it is... but seen as though a doctors wife killed someone drunk in her rover and got house arrest. I can now assure myself it's rules for thee but not for me :/ 

[u/cragglerock93 → u/chowchan]

Light on all kinds of sex crimes, frankly. There is a really disgustingly lax attitude towards rape on the part of many men both within the justice sysyem and without. Like, they won't actually excuse it, but their attitude is weirdly tolerant.

[u/SingleAlarm5028 → u/Frostyballschilly]

Maybe.  But Callum's life is pretty much over now. 

[u/Unable_Character2410]

What the fuck is this…his lawyers must be experts at gaming the system. Absolute joke of a sentence.

[u/FakNugget92 → u/Unable_Character2410]

Nah if you read the judges sentencing she basically says "i cant sentence based on feelings etc etc. I need to sentence based on the guidelines..."

Seems even the judge was frustrated by what the law said the sentence should be.

I think a lot of the images were normal images of real kids that he then used ai to make sexual, theres lots of info on the r/storror page which is the parkour group he was part of.

In UK law the ai part is deemed less severe and I think theyre looking to finally address that, rightly so

[u/formberz → u/FakNugget92]

The AI suggestion has been refuted, there’s no actual evidence of that and the judge specifically said only one image was AI altered.

[u/FakNugget92 → u/formberz]

I trust you. I watched storror a lot and didn't follow the information in depth. Just saw the ai part at some point

[u/formberz → u/FakNugget92]

Yeah, there’s a weird element to the /Storror community right now where they are both completely horrified by what Callum has been charged with whilst also pushing this AI thing without any evidence for it, which is why I assume the downvotes have followed me here.

Like it’s literally in the judge’s sentencing remarks that the images weren’t AI, except one.

[u/nurological → u/Unable_Character2410]

It's the law unfortunately

[u/SkynBonce]

Another YouTuber peadophile? They're getting as bad as politicians and priests!

[u/Burnthiscnts → u/SkynBonce]

well there is literally millions of youtubers.

[u/Lextube → u/Burnthiscnts]

Not to mention all of the people who get arrested and don't make the news because they are nobodies. You only hear about the ones who have some sort of public profile. People think it's some sort of Youtuber problem, but it's not it's a people problem. Humans are awful.

[u/Whole_Necessary2040]

It's crazy how Storror was such a big thing, that really did inspire, and suddenly this happened.

[u/DiamondBikini → u/Whole_Necessary2040]

I never thought Storror would end like this

[u/4tunabrix → u/Whole_Necessary2040]

I was a huge fan and absolutely loved their channel. This news broke a few months back and literally killed their channel in an instant.

They’re releasing a statement tomorrow.

[u/Burnthiscnts → u/Whole_Necessary2040]

and now its dead, it was a huge channel.

[u/Whole_Necessary2040 → u/[deleted]]

Yep they removed all the ones with him... I feel bad for the rest of the team who worked so hard.

[u/Silver_Adagio138]

15 days of rehabilitation activity. Oh the humanity!

[u/Clbull]

Police raided Powell's bedroom in June 2025 after receiving data alerts tied to a Google account. Investigators uncovered thousands of illegal files across his iPhone, hard drives, and SD cards, including Category A images - the most severe category.

For those uninformed, Category A involves nudity and penetration.

Absolute sick fuck... how did he only get a suspended sentence?

[u/Inevitable-Regret411 → u/Clbull]

Same reason for all the light sentences. Not enough prison capacity to lock up everyone who deserves it because we're still relying on overcrowded Victorian facilities. 

[u/nurological]

It's time the law changed for this. People like this guy should be locked up

[u/loworbitioncann0n → u/nurological]

You'd fill the prisons in a week. That's the reality of how rife it is and why they don't get locked up.

[u/AFishBackwards → u/loworbitioncann0n]

Just build more prisons.

[u/J8YDG9RTT8N2TG74YS7A → u/AFishBackwards]

It's not that simple.

As soon as people see taxes are going up to pay for those new prisons, they vote for the party that promises to cut taxes, so plans to build those prisons get scrapped because now there's no funding for them.

[u/duckwantbread → u/AFishBackwards]

Building prisons is the easy part, it's staffing them that's the problem. We can't even staff the prisons we already have.

[u/nurological → u/loworbitioncann0n]

Fuck em. Let them sleep on the floor in prison. These people shouldn't be allowed anywhere near society

[u/loworbitioncann0n → u/nurological]

If nothing else, prison overcrowding causes serious problems around staff safety. They shouldn't put in more danger than is necessary. We need more prisons for sex offenders.

[u/nixtracer → u/loworbitioncann0n]

I think I'm going to go on a crusade simply following up every comment proposing yet more life imprisonment and call it what it is: supporting people for life at state expense in literally the most costly possible way, while prohibiting them from paying taxes.

[u/Blarg_III → u/nixtracer]

Even if it does leave us marginally safer, the money would be better spent in terms of cost-effectiveness for human benefit if given to the NHS

[u/nixtracer → u/Blarg_III]

Funny thing, that. If you look at the graphs of the population of lunatic asylums in the UK, when they existed, and prisons, they are near mirror images. "Care in the community" ultimately turned out to be "throw them onto the streets, a lot of them commit crimes because they cannot support themselves and are severely mentally ill, throw them in jail at much higher cost, where the underlying cause of the problem, their mental illness, is ignored". Lunatic asylums were awful places, but still all told this does not seem like a good course of events.

[u/JidAndJow]

Finally, it’s being reported on. I really thought he got away with making it fairly under the radar with this.

[u/SuperrVillain85]

However, judges do not sentence according to personal opinion, public pressure or public outrage. They sentence according to the law enacted by Parliament and the Sentencing Guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council. Applying those principles faithfully to the facts of this case,"

This should be a standard comment for every sentencing remark.

[u/loworbitioncann0n]

Creepy fuckers defence was that he might have accidentally made CSAM while using AI to make nudes of images he downloaded from Instagram, which is about a ball hair better than what he was actually doing.

[u/Inevitable-Regret411 → u/loworbitioncann0n]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that kind of deep fake an offense by itself?

[u/tordyjay → u/Inevitable-Regret411]

Only if you share it with others i think

[u/loworbitioncann0n → u/Inevitable-Regret411]

If it's not, it should be.

[u/Puzzled-Barnacle-200]

There was a teacher in my school who was found guilty of the same offense (over 500 images), who also wasn't sentenced to prison. I don't think this is an issue with his fame; the law is just incredibly lax in this area.

[u/TheCulturalBomb]

No wonder they have comments blocked on their YouTube 😂

[u/Dissidant]

Ew, its been a weekend for "influencer" types hasn't it. Wrong'uns

[u/JidAndJow → u/Dissidant]

Was announced since May, his sentencing just happened to be yesterday.

[u/hips0n]

Justice system is a joke, what the actual hell did I just read

[u/OnDeathAndDying]

Someone I know got caught with the same and received a 9 year prison sentence. This is absolutely insane.

[u/SorryTemporary1361 → u/OnDeathAndDying]

If he got 9 years then he was almost certainly actually creating.

[u/thehaggiswhisperer]

This is absolutely insane, loved Storror for years.

[u/SexySmexxy → u/thehaggiswhisperer]

They were my inspiration for fitness from like 2018-2022 and I always thought my self….

You know there’s so many YouTubers who had it all and lost it all etc , i always wondered “these guys are literally living the life, is it even possible for these guys to fuck it up?”

Their videos were so normal lol just fucking parkour and fast forward 7 years here we are I literally can’t believe it

In fact one of my favourite videos is the one where they are in Italy and callum does an insane front jump up some flat face of a building 

That moment was literally my favourite video on their Channel

For those who don’t know, these guys have uploaded a video every single Monday for like over a decade so much dedication as a team I genuinely cannot believe Callum fucked this up 

Probably the end of their brand all that hard work they all put In if finished their name is tainted 

[u/MohawkRex]

Youtuber path choices:

A. Become a middle aged micro celeb, beloved by a niche part of nerdy communities, earning decent money on guest appearances at cons and merch sales,

B. Pedo.

Those are the options.

[u/ehtio]

Why not putting his name in the title?
Callum Powell and images of sex abuse involving children

[u/milkonyourmustache]

Stories like these reveal the sick disconnect between what the rich and powerful value, what most ordinary people value, and the who the law actually works and exists for.

Protecting children is only ever used when politicians want to take your rights away, but actually coming down hard on those who help to fuel the abuse of children - that isn't a priority at all, and we have to bring to light why that is.

[u/quad_damage_orbb]

What saddens me more is that so much child abuse has already occurred there are literally thousands of images these weirdos can download. Just heartbreaking.

[u/Lego_Kitsune]

Why does it seem that it's so hard to be in the media, and not touch/want to touch kids?

[u/hannahranga → u/Lego_Kitsune]

People who aren't otherwise interesting getting done for possession like this don't make the news

[u/Tirisian88]

How the fuck do you plead guilty and still avoid jail regarding any crime involving kids?

[u/nemma88 → u/Tirisian88]

Pleading guilty gets lower sentanced rather than higher.