A pervert who had thousands of indecent images of children has been spared prison.
Liam Scott had amassed a sickening collection of material featuring children as young as 18 months old. Newcastle Crown Court heard he had also distributed some of the images to others online.
The National Crime Agency went to his home after receiving information about a file sharing cloud platform being used to download child abuse pictures and videos. Examination of his phone showed he had been searching for such material.
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He had also been engaged in online chats with other perverts, one calling himself "kid lover", who Scott asked for "any baby folders".
On his phone, police found 13 category A images, 12 category B and 26 category B. On the cloud storage platform, there were 2,790 category A videos and pictures, 2,475 category B and 3,618 category C.
Scott, 33, of O'Hanlon Crescent, Wallsend, pleaded guilty to making, possessing and distributing indecent images and also possessing prohibited images and extreme pornography. He was sentenced to two years suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work. He must also sign the sex offenders register for ten years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
Judge Robert Spragg told him: "These type of offences create victims of children who are abused so people like you can view it." He added that while Scott "richly deserves to go to prison", he would suspend the sentence so he could get help to try to prevent him offending again.
Matthew Purves, defending, said: "He is a man of previous good character. Until 2020 he would have been recognised as a hard-working family man."
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