A CHURCHGOER has avoided prison after downloading indecent images

A CHURCHGOER has avoided prison after downloading indecent images of children from the internet.

Police found thousands of photographs and videos on computers belonging to "committed Christian" Jonathan Perkin.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that officers searched the 42-year-old's house in October 2007 and seized five computers, two of which were found to have illegal photographs on them.

Paul Spratt, prosecuting, said: "The first computer, which had a separate hard drive, contained 113,707 still images from level one to four and 186 moving images from level one to four.

"A laptop, which also had a separate hard drive, contained 460 level one still images and 22 moving images."

Perkin admitted 12 charges of making indecent photographs of children and two charges of possessing indecent photographs of children.

The defendant pleaded guilty on the basis that the only images he intentionally downloaded were level one – the lowest of five levels of seriousness. The court heard that Perkin, of Newhouse Road, Abbey Hulton, had no previous convictions.

Paul Cliff, mitigating, said: "The offences are nearly three years old and there's no suggestion of any offending since."

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones handed Perkin a three-year community order and ordered him to complete a sex offenders programme. He was disqualified from working with children for life, put on the sex offenders register for five years, and pay £2,789 costs.