Doncaster man found with 23,000+ items of child abuse porn

Matthew Wilding's Bridge Road home was raided by police on October 12, 2017, following a tip-off, said prosecutor Gordon Stables.

When an officer looked at Wilding's mobile phone they immediately saw an indecent image of a child, and seized his computers.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that it took until February 2019, for police to analyse a sample of 1,050 images.

They found 456 Category A images, 67 Category B images, and 137 Category C images, where Category A is the most extreme, as well as 390 prohibited images of children.

Mr Stables described the content of one 23 minute video, entitled "rape paedophilia", which showed an adult having sex with a seven-year-old girl.

He said the high volume of images, the age of the victims and the fact some were in "discernible pain or distress" aggravated the offences.

Richard Barradell, mitigating, said Wilding has a number of long-term mental health problems and had been taking medication for 15 years to tackle his paranoid schizophrenia.

He said that at the time of the offences, between February 2014 and October 2017, his problems were exacerbated by drug abuse, alcoholism and loneliness.

"Many would say someone in his position needs help," he said.

Wilding, 35, pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing indecent images, in September last year.

Judge Peter Kelson QC imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which bans Wilding from unsupervised contact with girls under the age of 16, and monitors his internet use, for ten years.

He imposed a 12 month sentence, suspended for two years and ordered him to undertake 40 rehabilitation days, 40 sessions of a programme for sex offenders and six months of alcohol treatment.

He said society would be better served if Wilding was rehabilitated.

"It's taken two years from the apprehension of you until the time you were charged," he told Wilding. "It's a real problem at the moment.

"I am not criticising the police. They have their own problems with funding."