Jail for man with 3,000 indecent images of boys

Pornographic pictures and movies were found on two computers at the home of Paul Jackson following a police search raid.

They included 94 photos and four movies of category A, depicting the most serious acts of depravity, which Judge Michael Challinor branded 'vile'.

A police investigation in to his online activities also revealed he had distributed nine category A photos, seven in category B and nine in category C.

Jackson, aged 52, of Cemetery Road, Cannock, admitted six charges of making indecent images and movies and three of distributing child pornography.

Judge Challinor told him: "It's one thing downloading images of children in a relatively isolated situation, but quite another distributing them. By that act you actively encourage this vile child abuse and the purpose of this sentence must be deterrence.

"The public need to know - prison is the answer if you distribute this sort of material."

Along with the jail sentence, Jackson was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the next ten years and banned from working with children.

Mr Robert Price, prosecuting, said officers executed the search warrant on May 1, last year because Jackson had been purchasing indecent images from the internet.

He had three computers and two of them contained the unlawful porn.

He had 94 photos and 14 movies in category A; 284 photos and 15 movies category B and 2,432 photos and six movies in category C.

There were records of internet conversations, including discussions about his sexual preferences and requests for images of young boys. "I like young, not old", he put in one message.

He received files from other individuals 26 times and Jackson himself distributed indecent images on 25 occasions.

When he was arrested on May 9, he claimed the police would not find any unlawful material, but changed his stance when confronted with the evidence on 30 March. He admitted asking people to send him pictures of boys naked, aged 11 to 15, while asserting he had no sexual interest.

Mr Neil Gerrity, defending, said there was no evidence that Jackson had made any attempts to contact children. He said if he were sent to prison, he would lose his job in the transport industry and probably his mortgaged home as well.