Christopher Watts 53

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A convicted sex offender who was caught with hundreds of indecent pictures of children was jailed.

Christopher Watts, 50, was arrested when police raided his Widnes home in April after receiving intelligence that he was searching for vile content online.

When police searched a number of devices that belonged to Watts they found hundreds of indecent pictures of children.

Yesterday Watts appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images, two counts of possessing indecent images and one count of possessing a prohibited image.

Simon Duncan, prosecuting, told the court that Watts had 109 Category A pictures of children of the most serious type and 143 Category B pictures. Watts' collection also included a small number of extreme images which included child rape and bestiality.

Mr Duncan explained that Watts denied having images of child sexual exploitation when interviewed by police in April after a raid at his home address on Hambleton Close.

However Watts was re-arrested in November which led to him being charged.

Judge Gary Woodall, who jailed Watts for two and a half years, said the Widnes man had been using the 'dark web'.

Judge Woodall said: "You were using peer to peer sites and clearly involved in the dark web. Many of the images found were thumbnail stills of videos which had been deleted."

The judge said that some of the images found on Watts' devices were extreme.

He said: "Some of these stills showed pictures of very young children being raped."

Judge Woodall said there was evidence that Watts had a "sexual interest in young children."

He told Watts, who appeared on video link from HMP Altcourse, that he would serve half his sentence in prison and the remainder on licence.

He also made Watts subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

Jeremy Rawson, defending, told the court that Watts grew up in Guildford and moved to Runcorn when he was a child.

Mr Rawson said that Watts left school at 18, attended a YTS course and worked as a painter and decorator. Watts later completed a computer course and gained a full time job with BT.

He said that Watts had no history of substance abuse and had gained a job in the laundry at Altcourse prison.

Mr Duncan told the court that in 2015 Watts was convicted of four counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child.

Watts was jailed for 10 years after being found guilty following a trial at Guildford Crown Court.

The victim, whose identity was protected, told the court that Watts made her feel "disgusting and dirty."

She said that Watts told her that he would harm her family if she reported him to the authorities.

When he was 15 Watts was convicted after pleading guilty of indecent assault by simulating sexual intercourse with a two and a half year old girl.