A pervert caught with child abuse images for a second time has kept his freedom after blaming lockdown.
Police found 39 illegal pictures and movies after they raided Paul Beattie's home and seized his electronic devices in May 2020. Newcastle Crown Court heard the victims featured in the collection were aged as young as five or six.
The court heard there was also a video featuring a woman engaging in "various activities of sexual intercourse" with a dog. Beattie, 40, of Lilburne Close, Sunderland, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornography.
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The court heard in 2013 he was given a suspended sentence for possessing, making and distribution of indecent images.
Recorder Simon Kealey QC said Beattie had an "inability to cope during the lockdown period" but had engaged well with the probation service in the past. The judge said it was "potentially more constructive or society" for
Beattie to receive further input in the community in a bid to prevent any further offending.
Beattie was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with rehabilitation and programme requirements. He has to sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.
Katie Spence, defending, said Beattie makes "no excuses" for his behaviour but added the distraction and coping mechanisms he had learned after the previous convictions were difficult to maintain during lockdown.
Miss Spence said: "He struggled with loneliness, felt isolated. He described his living conditions as living in solitary confinement. It is no excuse as the rest of the country were all also living in these conditions. He suffered at the hands of his own mental health."
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