A PERVERT who spied on young girls using hidden cameras and also kept images of them has been jailed for more than four years.

John Jukes had hundreds of indecent images of children involved in sexual activity, some taken from the internet, and photographed one vulnerable victim when she was naked, tied up and blindfolded.

Cleveland Police were alerted to the 49-year-old’s activities by the National Crime Agency.

Prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, David Crook said officers searched a property on April 17 this year and discovered multiple cameras, computers and cables.

They also analysed a laptop belonging to Jukes and found he had searched the internet using terms such as “pre-teens” and “toddler”.

Ian Hudson, for Jukes, Bruce Crescent, Hartlepool, who admitted five counts of voyeurism and thirteen further offences of making, taking and possessing indecent images, said he suffered from long term depression and was of previous good character.

Mr Hudson added: “There is no suggestion of distribution [of the images] or involvement for monetary gain.

“This was for personal gratification.”

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton said Jukes, who stood head bowed in the dock, had “defiled” one of his victims and invaded her personal privacy.

He said Jukes, who claimed there had been no sexual intent, had acted out of lust and pursued a course of conduct which continued for months, if not years.

He said: “You kept these images so you could look at them from time to time. There can be no doubt what was in your mind when you created those images.”

The judge added that he “strongly disagreed” with claims by Mr Hudson that Jukes could be rehabilitated in the community.

He was jailed for four years, four months, made subject to an indefinite sexual offences prevention order and will also have to register his movements with police indefinitely.

Detective Superintendent Rob Donaghy, from Cleveland Police, said he was pleased with the sentence which he hoped would act as a deterrent and he encouraged victims of sexual abuse to contact the force.