A man with a "disturbing and deviant" sexual interest in children filmed himself abusing a boy and shared the footage with fellow paedophiles, a court heard.
Gavin Jackson, from Middlestone Moor, near Spennymoor, shared thousands of images of child sex abuse, including 17 of him groping a boy, to nine like-minded individuals over the internet.
Among his vast collection of images were others of him attempting to molest a second boy.
Upon examination of his phones and electrical devices the 25-year-old defendant was also found to have covertly filmed three men getting changed without their knowledge, storing 700 images of them in three named computer files.
Ellen Wright, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing at Teesside Crown Court that Jackson first came to police attention in October 2023 after information was received that he possessed indecent images of children.
Devices were seized but while police underwent the lengthy process of examining their contents, it emerged Jackson was continuing to collect and share indecent child imagery.
It led to his further arrest in November last year when more offending material came to light on other seized devices.
Over the course of plea hearings at Durham Crown Court in December last year and May this year the defendant, of Moorside, admitted a total of 17 charges.
They included four of sexual assault of a boy, one of attempted sexual assault on a boy, three counts of making indecent images of a child and six of distribution of such material.
He also admitted three counts of voyeurism, relating to the covertly filmed footage.
The court heard the defendant is of previous good character and that his parents were completely unaware of their son's internet activities.
Judge Stephen Ashurst told Jackson that he was in his early 20s when he committed these offences and now, in his mid-20s, is previously unconvicted.
The judge said understandably the parents of the abused boy may feel no sentence could justify what took place to their son.
But he said he had to pay regard to the sentencing guidelines and to allow the defendant "credit" by way of slightly reduced sentences to reflect his guilty pleas.
Judge Ashurst told Jackson he committed various "disturbing and deviant" offences and he clearly had a sexual interest in children, gaining gratification at abusing boys.
He imposed sentences totalling 78 months (six-and-a-half years) and made the defendant subject to indefinite registration as a sex offender.
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He must serve two-thirds of the sentence behind bars before being eligible for release on licence.
Jackson was also made subject of restrictions over future internet use and child contact under the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) as well as a restraining order.
It prohibits him from future contact or approaches to the abused boy.
Both were also made for "indefinite" periods.
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