A paedophile collected more than 10,000 indecent images over a period of more than a decade.
Simon Tomkins spent a period of around 12 years downloading a vile stash of pictures and videos of children aged as young as eight being raped. The 39-year-old blames his perverted behaviour on the breakdown of a long-term relationship.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Cheshire Police raided his then home on Ventnor Close in Great Sankey, Warrington, on October 1 2019. Tomkins had been living at this address with his parents since 2007, when he had split up with his partner.
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Derek Jones, prosecuting, said that officers seized seven devices from him - including laptops, hard drives, an iPad and a USB stick. A total of 11,290 indecent images were subsequently found on them.
Of these, 222 were graded as being in category A - those showing the most serious forms of abuse. Included were 48 videos of this nature, one of which showed an eight-year-old being forced to perform a sex act on a man while another featured a boy and a girl of the same age engaged in sexual activity.
Tomkins - now of Patton Close in Hood Manor - had also collected 358 category B images, including 19 movies, and 10,710 category C pictures and videos. He had been downloading them since 2007, installing a browser which allowed him to use the internet anonymously.
But more than 100,000 other files were "uncategorised". It is not known if they were illegal, as they were not looked at.
Tomkins had also been involved in "sexualised conversations" on Skype and messaging service Kik. In one chat with another user, he had posed as a 14-year-old girl.
Under interview, the defendant "denied a sexual interest in children". Tomkins has two previous convictions for drink driving and drunk and disorderly behaviour dating back to 2001.
Robert Dudley, defending, said that splitting up with his partner and moving back home with his mum and dad led to his client "falling into spending time on his computer". He added: "It is now three years since his arrest - there is no indication of any further issues with the defendant, and he tells me that he went cold turkey as a result of the shock of this and that he has not accessed sites such as this since.
"He has taken full responsibility for what he has done. By viewing these images, he creates a market and he wholly understands that.
"In my submission, the realistic prospect of rehabilitation is such that the court can properly draw back from immediate custody. He has an understanding of what he did and how bad that was."
Tomkins admitted possession of indecent images, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images and possession of cannabis. He was jailed for two years yesterday, Tuesday.
Sentencing, Recorder Ian Harris said: "The images are of young girls aged between eight and 14 being forced to perform repellent sexual acts. There is a high volume of images, including moving images.
"I know that you have no previous convictions. The delay has been three years.
"Your mother is in court today. Perhaps you should pause to think how terrible it must be for her to see you in a position like this.
"The victims in this case are the children in those images. They are being sexually exploited and are highly vulnerable.
"The impact on them is massive and has a corrosive effect on them. There is no doubt that in the short and long term these victims do suffer.
"For 12 years, your criminal activity helped to fuel this market and cause the further spread of this material."
Tomkins was handed a sexual harm prevention order and a notification requirement, both lasting 10 years. Forfeiture of the electronic equipment and destruction of the drugs was also ordered.
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