A COMPUTER engineer who downloaded more than 50,000 child sex abuse images has been given a suspended sentence.

David Green amassed his perverted collection of almost a decade before his deviant behaviour was eventually tracked down.

The 40-year-old used a number of different techniques to mask his online activities before he was finally traced when he uploaded an indecent image that caught the attention of specialist police investigators.

Teesside Crown Court heard how it was discovered that Green stored the sick images on seven different devices when police raided his home last year.

The defendant had downloaded 288 Category A files, the most serious offence; 472 Category B files; and 50,502 Category C files; between December 2010 and September 2019.

Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, said there were 25 videos included in Green's stash some depicting sexual abuse of children as young as six.

He said: "The police attended the defendant's address to execute a warrant after receiving information that an indecent image of a child had been uploaded to the internet from an IP address associated with that address.

"The defendant was arrested and a number of exhibits were recovered from his bedroom.

He was interviewed and stated he wasn't responsible for the images but recalled doing a reverse search on the internet of one image. Indecent images were recovered from seven devices in total."

Mr Ahmad outlined some of the details of the type of images that Green had downloaded which included the rape of very young children.

He added: "Through analysis the police were able to find virtual names in the defendant's name were used to search for and access the child abuse images. The police say this was a more complex way to access the illegal material and the defendant had been successful in cloaking his activities online for a number of years."

Green, of Grosvenor Road, Billingham, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children.

Alex Bousfield, in mitigation, his client now understood the impact that downloading child sex abuse images had on increasing the flow of illegal material.

He said: "Clearly the offending has taken place over a period of time and I can't get away from the fact that there has been quite a sophisticated manner of offending involved."

Recorder Thomas Moran sentenced Green to 14 months, suspended for two years.

He said: "These (images) had been accessed in a relatively complex way – I note you are a computer engineer. You attempted to conceal your activities using various techniques and software, ultimately, it wasn't so sophisticated that the truth was not discovered by the police."

He was also made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.

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