Man collected child sex images during pandemic
BBCA man claimed he collected more than 4,000 sexual images of children because he was lonely during the Covid-19 pandemic, a court has heard.
Scott Morrison, 30, was found with graphic pictures and videos of children, including one depicting abuse of a baby, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
His haul included 711 images in the most serious category and he had sent a sexual picture of a 13 or 14-year-old girl to someone else.
Morrison, of Martindale Walk in Killingworth, North Tyneside, was jailed for eight months suspended for a year and a half after admitting six offences, including making and distributing indecent images of children.
Police raided his home in December 2022 and seized two mobile phones and a computer, the court heard.
The devices were found to contain 711 Category A images, 533 in Category B and 2,863 from Category C, with the ages of the children involved ranging from babies to 16 year olds.
It was also found he had sent a Category C image featuring a young teenage girl to another person, the court heard.
Judge Nathan Adams said Morrison was "extremely candid" with officers and claimed his criminality started during the pandemic.
Morrison had said he was working from home where he lived alone, was "isolated and lonely" and became "addicted" to adult pornography which led to more extreme images, the judge said.
The warehouse worker admitted being sexually aroused and required help for "clear deficits in thinking behaviour" and mental health treatment, which would be included in his sentence, the judge said.
Morrison must also sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order which limits his access to the internet for 10 years.
He admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, one of distributing an indecent picture of a child and possessing 23 prohibited and 54 extremely pornographic images.