BAFTA-nominated actor Daniel Frogson has been spared jail after he was caught with almost 850 sickening images of child abuse.
The 21-year-old, who starred as Tony Costa in BBC fantasy drama His Dark Materials, was found to be in possession of 165 of the most serious Category A images. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Frogson had been accessing the pictures since he was 17 and he was handed an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for 24 months.
Judge Steven Coupland said: “The images I have seen are sickening. Each of them is a real child being abused for the pleasure of someone like you watching.”
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He continued: “It is made worse because of the number of them – there were 848 indecent images – and it is made worse by the length of time you were doing it. You told the probation officer you do not have a sexual interest in children. I don’t accept that.”
(Image: Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock)
Defending Frogson, Lauren Manuel explained that her client had previously been nominated for a BAFTA Award for his role in the 2018 mini-serious Joe All Alone, which won the prestigious award for Best Children’s Drama that year, reports BPM Media.
Frogson, of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire played title-character Joe – a 13-year-old boy left behind by his mother and her boyfriend when they go away for a week. He also appeared in 2023 film The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and was living in nearby Nuthall when an IP address there was suspected of downloading child abuse images early that year.
(Image: BBC/© Bad Wolf/HBO)
Nicola Patten, prosecuting, said: “Two devices were seized and the defendant was arrested. On them were 165 category A images, 88 category B and 592 category C. There were also three prohibited images of children and search terms showing a sexual interest in children.
“He was interviewed twice in 2023 and on both occasions answered ‘no comment’ to the question he was asked.” Frogson pleaded guilty to possession of the indecent images and has no previous convictions of any kind.
(Image: Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock)
Miss Manuel, mitigating, said: “He did very well with his drama and acting and received a BAFTA nomination for Joe All Alone where he played a young boy living at home having to deal with drug use. He is currently working in construction in between carrying out auditions and over the past 12 months has put his life on hold awaiting the outcome of this case.”
As part of the suspended sentence order, meanwhile, Judge Coupland ordered Frogson to attend a 43-day sex offender’s rehabilitation programme and for him to carry out 15 further rehabilitation sessions. Frogson was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
