A mother said she felt physically sick after she discovered her partner was in possession of over 600 category A child abuse images and videos.
Rosie Nelson had been with Peter Lowe, previously known as Loram, for four years when she found out the he was a secret paedophile.
She was married to her son's father for 17 years in Devon before she met Lowe on dating site Plenty of Fish in 2016.
Advert
Describing him as a 'gentle giant', there appeared to be no red flags at the time and Rosie introduced him to her son and family.
However, in 2020, she called the police on him after coming across a memory card on his desk, containing hundreds of category A child abuse pictures and videos.
Rosie said the first video she witnessed was of a child no older than 10 who was engaging in sexual acts with an adult woman.
Advert
She was only able to watch the clip for a matter of seconds before turning it off.
"You can't see that, and ever forget what you've seen," she told LADbible Stories.
"I think I went onto autopilot. I just knew I had to do something. I knew I had to phone the police."
Advert
A year after calling the police, Lowe admitted to three counts of making (by downloading) indecent images of children in 2021.
As reported by Devon Live, he received a two-year suspended prison sentence and was ordered to undertake a sex offenders treatment course.
Though Rosie's initial concerns were about her son, aged 15 at the time.
"He came down and sort of leaned on the bannister, and said, 'You know, what's up?'" Rosie explained.
Advert
"And I said, 'I've had to phone the police, because I found something in the office.'
"And he just sort of looked at me a bit confused, and I said, 'I need to ask you if Pete's ever touched you.'
"And I said, "Has he ever talked to you inappropriately, has he ever done anything that's made you feel awkward, or worried, or...'
Advert
"He said, 'No.' He said, 'No, not at all. I didn't really ever do anything with him.'"
Lowe was put on the sex offenders register, and Judge David Evans told him: “You were arrested after your then partner, who is no longer your partner, came across an SD card in your office. She was shocked to discover what was on that storage device.
“There were photographs and videos depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of children, often very young children, by adults.
“An examination of your laptop’s browsing history was consistent with you having searched for and downloaded this imagery.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Anish Vij