Why I shopped my husband over child porn

Jacqueline Burke, 40, had been married to husband Jonathan for four years when his laptop beeped one day at their York home because of a low battery.

To stop the noise, Ms Burke, a care assistant and mother-of-two children from a previous marriage, pressed a button and was confronted with hundreds of disgusting images of youngsters being sexually abused – rated as among the most severe possible.

She immediately rang police and confronted her husband, who denied the pictures were anything to do with him.

But after officers mounted a dawn raid on their home, she demanded he leave and started divorce proceedings.

Ms Burke then waited more than two years to give evidence as the case dragged slowly through the courts, finally testifying at his trial last month, following which he was given a community order.

Now she has spoken out and described the sentence given to him as “appalling”.

“We met through friends and got married four years ago,” she said.

“He was lovely and charming until the day we married; then he changed.

“He became very controlling, but I never suspected there was anything darker to him.

“One day I came home from work and his laptop was beeping.

“I don’t know much about computers, and never had any cause to look at his, but I wanted to stop this noise so I pressed a key.

“Suddenly these disgusting images flashed up. It was a child being sexually abused.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t. I was just disbelieving that my husband had been looking at these pictures. There could be no excuses.

“Without hesitating, I called the police.

“It broke my heart but I knew it was absolutely the right thing to do. I have two children and this sickened me to my core.

“I was worried about how far his perversions had gone and if there was there anything else he had hidden from me.

“I confronted him and he just started shouting and saying it was nothing to do with him.

“He left but came back two days later wanting forgiveness.

“But after we had the dawn raid, he had to go.”

Burke, 39, who works as an interior fitter, refused to admit his guilt and his wife was forced to give evidence during a trial at York Crown Court last month.

A jury convicted him of 13 charges of possessing and making indecent photographs of children between January 17 and August 1, 2008.

He was later given a community order at Hull Crown Court, despite the severity of the photographs.

“The case was adjourned time and time again,” she said.

“Every time I had prepared myself for the ordeal of giving evidence against him.

“Finally I did and it was so scary, but I got through it and was told he would get a custodial sentence.

“I couldn’t face going to court for his sentence, but when witness support told me he had got a community order I felt sick.

“He should have gone to jail for what he did.

“Now he is living just round the corner from me with a new partner.

“The sentence was far too lenient for what he did.”

Ms Burke said her health is now suffering as a result of the case and she is off work after suffering panic attacks.

She says she is regularly taking tranquillisers and can no longer face going outside alone.

“I usually worked night shifts, and he was secretly doing it in the early hours of the morning, in our bedroom while I was at work.,” she said.

“He even downloaded some on to his iPod so he could look at them during the day.

“I ripped up and burned all the photos I had of him.

“He has scarred me mentally. I can’t work because of my nerves.

“My life has been turned totally upside down. It’s been three years of living hell.

“This is worse than him having an affair.

“That would have been terrible but I think I would have been able to cope.

“This was the worst thing he could possibly have done.”

Court rules out jail sentence

Jonathan Burke, 39, who works as an interior fitter, avoided jail following a trial at York Crown Court last month.

He refused to admit his guilt in court and his wife was forced to give evidence against him

A jury convicted him of 13 charges of possessing and making indecent photographs of children between January 17 and August 1, 2008.

He was sent to Hull Crown Court for sentencing and received a community order with three years’ supervision by the probation service including a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

Burke was also put on the sex offenders’ register for five years and made subject to a five-year sexual offences prevention order.