Lee Bayliss 52

Description

A paedophiles sick collection of indecent photos included children as young as two-years-old.

Lee Bayliss used search terms including 13yo [13-year-old] and girl w*** to access the pictures of children being abused.

The 49-year-old amassed a collection of more than 1,100 horrifying images over a two year period which began shortly after he was handed a community order for similar offences.

A sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) issued at Gloucester Crown Court in 2018 banned him from deleting any search history and ordered him to hand over any internet-accessible devices when asked to by an officer.

Bayliss, of Sephton Drive, Ormskirk, tried to hide his depraved habit by using virtual software but it was uncovered when police officers from Lancashire Constabulary visited him on August 6 last year.

Peter Barr, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court : As part of routine monitoring of Mr Bayliss as a sexual offender, police attended his home address.

He opened the door and allowed the officers in.

Bayliss proceeded to hand over devices including an iPhone 6, a HP laptop and an Android Zebra mobile computer.

While there, police noticed an iPhone 4 on charge which had not been handed over. Upon closer inspection, it was observed there were few apps and little data on it, which Bayliss explained by saying it had been wiped but he couldnt remember when.

This alone constituted a breach of his SOPO and further investigation found an Apple Mac had recently connected to Bayliss wifi.

He initially denied owning such a computer but then said it was in pieces and hadnt used it. This lie quickly unravelled and it was found that virtual software had been used to operate the computer without leaving a record.

In another breach of the SOPO, the Android device showed that its Google data history had been paused or deleted.

Mr Barr said: "The defendant said he had not looked at pornography and no traces were found on any devices.

However, when police accessed the Nokia he found there had been used frequently to access pornography, some which had questions search items.

These including '13yo', 'teen', and 'girl w***'.

Mr Barr said that the children in the 74 Category A images were described as pre-pubescent girls aged two-four, three-six and six-10.

Baylis, who has two previous convictions for 15 offences, had earlier pleaded guilty to deleting data in breach of his SOPO and four counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Defending, Kristian Cavanagh said that Bayliss recognises that the offending is abhorrent, he attributes it to a lapse and wants to stop looking at such images.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland QC said: To describe this as persistent breach offending is correct.

Its also significant the actual duration of this is so close in time to the community order that it amounts effectively to offending while on licence.

Its a great shame for you that you did not come to the conclusion that this kind of sexual behaviour is completely unacceptable when were you made subject of the community order in 2018.

Bayliss was handed a 27 months sentence.