A CBBC actor has admitted watching nearly 850 images showing “sickening” child abuse.
Daniel Frogson, 21, who appeared in the kids’ TV show Joe All Alone as well as Tony Costa in His Dark Materials, had been viewing the pictures since he was 17, his sentencing hearing was told.
Some of the photographs involved children has young as three years old, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
Police discovered 165 of the most serious category A indecent images, which often show adults raping kids, when they examined devices belong to Frogson.
The actor has now been given 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.
“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.”
Lauren Manuel, defending, said Frogson had been nominated for a Bafta award for his role as Joe in the 2018 mini-series Joe All Alone, which took the title of Best Children’s Drama the same year.
The images I have seen are sickening. Each of them is a real child being abused for the pleasure of someone like you watching.
Judge Steven Coupland
Frogson, from Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, played the 13-year-old Joe, a boy who is left behind by his mum and her boyfriend when they go away for a week.
The actor, who also featured in the 2023 film The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, was living in Nuthall when an IP address there was suspected of downloading child abuse images in early 2023.
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.
He has no previous convictions of any kind.
Ms Manuel 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 well as his suspended sentence, Frogson also has to attend a 43-day sex offender’s rehabilitation programme and the judge also ordered him to carry out a further 15 rehabilitation sessions.
Frogson has been placed on the sex offender register for 10 years and he has been handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order.
