A TEENAGER who downloaded abusive images of girls as young as 12 months is behind bars tonight (Friday, July 17).

Eighteen-year-old Nathan Foster was sentenced to two years and three months in custody after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing images of child abuse.

Durham Crown Court heard although Foster, of Seaton Crescent, Seaham, east Durham, had no previous criminal convictions, he was a disturbed young man and his offending had taken place over a two-year period.

Sentencing him, Judge Penny Moreland said he had downloaded and distributed indecent images of children and extreme pornography and was being sentenced for content found on four devices.

The police found 846 indecent images, including 163 still photographs classified as being of category A, the most serious, and 20 movies from that same category.

Foster’s whole collection featured girls aged 14 and under, including some as young as 12 months.

Judge Moreland said Foster’s offending had been “sophisticated”, as he had tried to obscure the address of his Internet Service Provider (ISP) to prevent the authorities tracing him.

He had used specific terms on internet search engines and downloaded images of “extremely” young children, some of whom were “clearly in distress”, the judge said.

A Probation Service report concluded Foster was at a high risk of further such offending.

Due to his young age, Foster will serve his 27-month sentence in a Young Offenders’ Institution.

He will also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and be on the sex offenders’ register, both for ten years.