A MAN who was found in possession of thousands of indecent images of children – the youngest aged just six – has been spared jail.

Tobion Johns, 36, of Garway Hill, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of indecent photos of a child, three counts of making indecent photos of a child and one count of distributing indecent photos of children before Hereford Crown Court.

Lal Amarasinghe, prosecuting, told the court that Johns had been arrested in July last year after information was received from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, linking Johns’ email address to a username which had uploaded category C images of children to the internet via Twitter.

Johns' mobile phones, cameras and a book containing email passwords were seized. During a police interview, Johns stated he had viewed category A images and hundreds of indecent images of children on various devices.

He admitted receiving and uploading photos on Twitter before the social media site blocked him in July.

He also admitted, Mr Amarasinghe said, using his mobile phone to take photos of two young girls on a train without their parents’ permission and sharing these with others. These were not indecent however, with the children fully clothed.

He stated he had also engaged in sexualised conversation about the abuse of children but said this was his fantasy and bravado and he had not committed any crimes against children and never wanted to.

The court heard many of the children in the indecent images – which included both still and moving photographs – were aged 12 plus, but that the youngest was around six years old.

At his second interview on November 3, Johns accepted he would search for images or would be sent them by Twitter users and accepted he had sent category C images.

At the time of that interview, he had completed a number of sessions with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation – a child protection charity dedicated solely to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused.

Defending, Mark Thompson, said that Johns' offending came to an end when he was blocked on Twitter which also served as a wakeup call. Johns had made full admissions which went beyond what was expected.

Although there were a ‘significant’ number of images – he was found in possession of 3,633 indecent photos of a child of category A, B and C – Mr Thompson said the volume was not ‘very high’ in comparative terms to other cases.

He added that the offences were ‘entirely out of character’ and a pre-sentence report conducted by the probation service stated Johns showed 'genuine remorse' and 'genuine empathy' for the victims.

This offending was carried out against a background of quite significant mental health problems including depression and anxiety, the court heard.

It was also at a time when he was working long hours, long distances and his long-term relationship was going through difficulties.

"It's not somebody who has decided overnight to become a predatory person, looking for these images, it has escalated gradually,” Mr Thompson added.

His honour Judge Cole said that although the offences crossed the custody threshold, he thought it would be best for both Johns and the wider community if he was able to take part in a programme of rehabilitation, rather than receive a short jail sentence.

He sentenced him to a community order of 36 months, including a requirement to attend a community sexual offenders programme and to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

He was told he would be brought back before the court if he committed any further offences in that time.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and a notification requirement for five years.