A teenage pervert confessed he had watched twisted videos of girls as young as 10 on a secret phone stashed under his bed.
Tanvir Ahmed, 18, "brought shame" on his family when Merseyside Police knocked on his door on Willmer Road, Tranmere, on February 2 last year. Liverpool Crown Court heard a search was performed at the address and no incriminating items were found, but Ahmed then confessed there was a Samsung mobile phone "hidden under his bed".
Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, told the court: "The images in question are three Category A videos each showing a young girl aged approximately 10 to 12. Originally, it was thought that what had happened was that the defendant, while on Snapchat, had actually taken videos of three young girls who were also on Snapchat.
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"Further investigation by the police has shown it is not possible for the prosecution to say that."
The court heard Ahmed claimed he had seen the videos on Snapchat while communicating with a group of other users, and screen-recorded them to his phone. Mr Gibson confirmed the prosecution had no evidence to contest his basis of plea.
Ahmed admitted making (downloading) indecent images of children and possessing indecent images of children and appeared yesterday (Monday) for sentence.
Martine Snowdon, defending, said character references had been written by Ahmed's parents, brother, auntie, cousin and a friend from university. She said: "Mr Ahmed had only recently turned 18 at the time of these offences, he was 18 and a half at the time.
"He and his family are terrified at the whole process, the police being in the house and the defendant being in the police station, going to court and the power the court has. He's feeling absolutely devastated for what he's done and for the impact on his family."
Ms Snowdon said Ahmed had never been in trouble before and had an "unblemished life". She said he volunteered for Cancer Research UK and worked Saturdays at JD Sports to fund his university studies.
The court heard Ahmed had already signed up to courses with the charity Stop it Now!, which works with people who have accessed or feel urges to access child abuse material online.
Judge Neil Flewitt, KC, said he would draw back from sending Ahmed to prison but told the slightly-built teenager he would "if you do it again".
Judge Flewitt said: "I have no doubt that now, and probably for some time, you have realised just how serious these offences are. In case that you don't, I need to make it clear that the children that are depicted in these videos are real children and they're children who have been sexually abused.
"The reason these offences are serious is that if there weren't people interested in looking at this material, there would be no market for making it. You are intelligent enough to realise that by providing a market for such material you are contributing to the abuse of these children."
Judge Flewitt said due to the defendant's young age, lack of previous convictions and full admissions, he could deal with the offences with a two year community order. Ahmed was ordered to complete the I-Horizon programme for sex offenders, 25 rehabilitation activity days with the Probation Service and 100 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for five years and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), severely restricting his internet use, which will also last for five years.
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