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A MAN who attempted to hide hundreds of images of children in a secret folder on his mobile phone has been jailed.
Christopher Roberts set up a password-protected area of his mobile in a bid to hide the images from police.
The 32-year-old told police he had forgotten the password when officers visited his home as part of a routine check made due to his previous sexual offences.
When the folder was unlocked, police found more than 500 images of children being sexually abused – with some believed to be as young as six.
On Friday, Roberts was jailed for more than two years at Southampton Crown Court.
Prosecutor Dan Sawyer told the court how Roberts was subject of a sexual harm prevention order after previously being caught in possession of indecent images of children.
Roberts was also convicted of attempting to contact a young teenage girl via social media in 2013.
Police visited Roberts at his home in March last year and asked him to submit his phone.
When officers could not access the password-protected folder, Roberts was arrested for not giving full access to his phone.
When officers inspected the device, they found five category A still images, four category B still images and 544 category category C images.
In an interview with probation, Roberts questioned the harm caused by him viewing the images, and claimed the victims were “often smiling”.
Mitigating, Jamie Gammon, said Roberts had been open with probation about his interests.
He said: “There doesn’t appear to be any attempt by him to hide his interests.
“He has had a rather frank conversation with probation officers and told them exactly how he feels.”
In sentencing, Judge Robert Pawson was critical of Roberts and his views.
He said: “You say that they are not real victims and they are often smiling and it’s not like they have been forced into it.
“That shows a complete lack of empathy on your part.
“Every time you download one of these images of a child being sexually abused you contribute to that person’s misery.”
Roberts, who is currently serving a sentence at HMP Dartmoor for the original breach of his order, pleaded guilty three counts of making indecent images of children.
He was jailed for two years and eight months.