British man accused of killing toddler jailed for new child pornography charges

UK toddler killer jailed on child porn charges

LONDON — A man who killed a toddler when he was just 10 years old in a crime that shocked Britain was sentenced to jail on Friday for new child pornography charges.

Jon Venables, who is now 27, was sentenced to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to downloading and distributing dozens of indecent images of children.

Venables became one of Britain’s most notorious criminals in 1993, when he and another 10-year-old abducted 2-year-old James Bulger from a shopping center and beat him to death by an isolated railway line in northern England.

The young ages of the victim and his killers horrified the country.

The two killers were given life sentences, but were released on parole in 2001 after being given new identities to protect them.

Venables was indicted again earlier this year on the child pornography charges. He appeared at London’s Central Criminal Court Friday by videolink from prison.

In a statement released by his lawyer Friday, Venables said he thought about the murder of Bulger every day and said he was “genuinely ashamed” for viewing child abuse images.