A convicted paedophile caught with more than 11,000 images described as “some of the most obscene child abuse ever seen by investigators” has been jailed.
Nigel Childs had images depicting children ranging from newborn to teenage, with the majority of the images showing children under the age of five.
The 60-year-old was also found to have more than 14 hours of video footage showing children being abused, as well as images and video depicting bestiality involving adults, dogs and horses.
Of the 11,344 images that were found 1,688 were classed as category A, the most serious type. Of the 193 videos, 118 were deemed to be of the worst category.
He was also found to have software designed to hide his online identity and to clean his hard drive of evidence of his online activities.
Sheriff Gillian Wade said: “In the circumstances I do not consider there to be any alternative to a custodial sentence – that will come as no surprise to you.
“You went to some lengths to conceal your offending behaviour, which is of some concern.”
She ordered him to serve three years in custody and placed him on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period. Childs will also be supervised for 18 months after his release.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that Childs has previously been caught with 24,000 images of child abuse and had been on the sex offenders’ register until 2011.
Childs, of Firbank Road, Perth, admitted taking or permitting to be taken indecent images of children at his home address between December 2015 and April 2017.
He also pled guilty to possessing child abuse images between the same dates, and to possessing ‘extreme’ pornography between December 2016 and April 2017.
Depute fiscal Charmaine Gilmartin previously told the court that police has searched Childs’ home in April 2017 and confiscated a laptop and USB sticks.
She said: “The examiners of the electronic equipment have expressed the opinion that the videos recovered depict some of the most obscene child abuse ever seen by them to date.”
