Charity shop worker who is changing to become a woman whose New Year’s resolution was to have sex with a child under 10 and had 16,000 child abuse images is jailed

A charity shop worker who is about to become a woman has been jailed for two years for possessing thousands of ‘repulsive’ child abuse images.

Samantha Norris, 56, from Ringwood, Hampshire, was previously cleared by a jury of exposing ‘her penis’ to two 11-year-old girls following a trial at Southampton Crown Court in January.

But yesterday, Norris pleaded guilty to several possession charges 16,000 images of children – including approximately 2,000 still and 121 moving images of category A severity – and an extreme porn image featuring an animal.

The images showed children as young as three years old, while other images showed youngsters aged around six in ‘distress and pain’, the court heard.

Passing sentence, Judge Rowland said Norris had made notes about sexual fantasies about a young child, as well as a ‘New Year’s resolution to have sex with a girl under 10’.

Norris pleaded guilty at Southampton Crown Court to charges of possessing 16,000 images of children – including approximately 2,000 still and 121 moving images of category A severity

He told the defendant: “It’s all about you, Samantha Norris, not the victims.

‘You do not accept that they are victims, you have a distorted view and you believe that your offense should not be treated as serious. What would a reasonable person think about that?

‘Your views are alarming and complex – you pose a significant risk of harm to children.’

The defendant entered the pleas after being acquitted by a jury of other charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child and indecent exposure.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Nicholas Rowland made Norris subject to a sexual harm prevention order for a period of ten years.

He added: “It’s quite egregious to me that you decided not to enter guilty pleas (earlier) because those pleas would have gone before the jury on the other cases.”

During the exposure and sexual activity trial, of which Norris was acquitted, the prosecution had alleged that the defendant had deliberately exposed ‘her penis’ to two young people through the window of her flat.

But Norris, who worked at a Sue Ryder charity shop, described himself as a naturist who was “usually naked” at home.

Norris insisted that the children could only see nudity if they had been “spying.”

Norris also complained about abuse by young people in the city and accused the girls of ‘taunting’.