A dad-of-two has avoided jail after repeatedly downloading disturbing child sexual abuse photos over a 17-year period.
Pervert Ian Cottage began collecting his vile stash of more than 2,300 images and videos in 2004 and didn't stop until he was arrested in June 2021. A court heard that the youngsters involved in the sick collection were girls aged between six and 14 and some of pictures were the most serious kind, category A, which involved penetrative sexual activity.
Cottage, whose partner knows about his offending but has decided to stick by him, admitted having the sick material but claimed most of it was downloaded during the national Covid-19 lockdown. The paedophile, of Beatrice Road, in Heaton, has now been given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
