‘His Dark Materials’ actor Daniel Frogson sentenced for possession of child abuse images
Daniel Frogson, the actor best known for appearing in the BBC series His Dark Materials, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to downloading hundreds of child abuse images.
Frogson was nominated for a Bafta for his role as Joe in the 2018 mini-series Joe All Alone, which won ‘Best Children’s Drama’ at the ceremony. He then starred as Tony Costa in His Dark Materials in 2019 and was featured in the 2023 movie The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
The 21-year-old actor from Nottingham was found to have downloaded and viewed almost 850 images of children, aged as young as three, on his mobile devices. While he was living in Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, when an IP address there was suspected of downloading child abuse images in early 2023.
Nottingham Crown Court heard he had been viewing the pictures since he was 17. During the hearing, the police said they’d found 165 of the most serious category A indecent images, according to Nottinghamshire Live.
Nicole Patten, for the prosecution, 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.”
Continuing, “He was interviewed twice in 2023 and on both occasions answered ‘no comment’ to the question he was asked.” Following this questioning, the actor pleaded guilty to the possession of the images.
The Judge, Steven Coupland, issued Frogson an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for 24 months.
He 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.”
As part of the order, Coupland ordered the actor to attend a 43-day rehabilitation programme for sex offenders, as well as a further 15 sessions. Frogson was also placed on the sex offender register for a decade and given a five-year sexual harm prevention order.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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