'Appalling and shocking' paedophile made and distributed indecent images of his own child
A paedophile who took and distributed indecent images of his own primary school-aged child has been spared jail so he can attend a treatment programme.
The crimes of the Telford man, who is not being named to protect the identity of his victim, were described by a judge on Wednesday as "appalling and shocking".
However, the defendant, who is in his 30s and had admitted eight counts of possessing, taking, and distributing indecent images of children, as well as one charge of publishing an obscene article, was handed a community order instead of jail time.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Wednesday that most of the images found on the man's phone had been of his own child, although a number of videos and images featuring babies to children aged around 14 were also discovered on his computer.
Prosecutor, Ms Rosemary Proctor, told the court that the offences came to light when West Mercia Police raided the man's home, which he was then sharing with his partner and child, on April 8 this year.
She said that police had served a warrant at the address after the defendant's email address was linked to messages on social media platform Kik that were discussing sexually abusing children.
“The defendant confirmed the email address was his and he was arrested. His devices were seized and indecent images of children were found on his phone and computer,” she told the court.
