A MAN who told fellow paedophiles he fantasised about raping children as young as seven was given a community order and told to get treatment for his sexual deviancy.

Stephen Midgley had spent on remand the bulk of whatever jail sentence he might have received.

The 22-year-old chatted to other paedophiles over the internet about his fantasies.

Judge Howard Crowson described the thoughts as "appalling" but said they were "entirely false, made only to boost your credibility".

Midgley was found with more than 700 indecent pictures and 22 film clips of child abuse when police raided his Stockton home.

He claimed he accidentally stumbled across them, but an examination of searches on his mobile phone showed he had sought them out.

Some of the images showed children tied up with rope while being abused, and all the online sites he had visited had been 'bookmarked'.

Midgley denied being sexually aroused by the pictures, and claimed he had been interested in finding out what drives a man to offend.

In a probation report, Midgley was said to have little understanding of victims and was assessed as a high risk of sexual harm.

He told officials that he was depressed and made a mistake downloading the pictures and movies, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Yvonne Taylor, mitigating, said Midgley has identified his role as a farm worker at a number of sites as a stress factor.

She told Judge Crowson that he had thought carefully about his job and will just work at one farm to reduce his risk of harm.

Midgley, of Northbourne Road, Stockton, admitted 16 charges of making indecent photos of children and one of possessing them.

He was given a two-year community order with supervision, and was told to go on a sex offender treatment programme.

Judge Crowson told him: "I would have imprisoned you except you have already served the bulk of any sentence I would have imposed.

"If I was to imprison you, you would be released and it would be difficult for the Probation Service to work with you."