A MARRIED man with a "deep and unhealthy" interest in young girls is behind bars after being caught with hundreds of pictures of child abuse.

Michael Patterson chatted with other paedophiles online about having sex with children and shared some of his sickening catalogue of photographs.

The 53-year-old also pretended to be a child so he could communicate with girls in internet chat-rooms, prosecutor Paul Reid told Teesside Crown Court.

Patterson, of Middlesbrough, was jailed for 20 months after Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, condemned his interest.

He said: "These are not victimless crimes . . . the girls who are the subject of sex in the photos actually had to undergo what you are looking at.

"The more people like you, the more that there will be a market for them, and young girls will have to be the subject of these depraved acts."

Patterson admitted two charges of making indecent images of children - more than 1,000 in total - and one count of distributing indecent images.

His lawyer, Robert Mochrie, admitted a report written by a probation officer was "disturbing reading" but said Patterson had been brutally honest.

Mr Mochrie added: "Perhaps this candidness is the first step on the ladder towards rehabilitation . . . he has not tried to cover up his actions."

Mr Reid said police raided Patterson's home and seized a computer and a laptop after they became aware he was streaming pictures and videos online.

The majority of the images were of girls aged between two and ten, said Mr Reid, and Patterson confessed to having a particular interest in 12- and 13-year-olds.