A 40-YEAR-OLD from Wiveliscombe has been handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he built up a 100,000-strong collection of child sexual abuse images.

Adam Dodden was sentenced at Taunton Crown Court (sitting at North Somerset Courthouse) on Friday (March 7) after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, one count of possession of prohibited images of children and one count of possession of extreme pornography.

This comes after Avon and Somerset Police received information that indecent images of children were being accessed and downloaded from within an address in Wiveliscombe.

The Internet Child Abuse Team executed a search warrant on September 9 and Dodden was arrested.

The force said that he “expressed disgust” at what he had done and admitted responsibility under interview.

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An examination of Dodden’s devices found that since 2010, he had established a collection of 1,343 category A images, which are the most serious, 1,116 category B images and 108,036 category C images.

In addition to this, he was also in possession of 97 prohibited images of children, and three extreme pornographic images.

Police are not aware that Dodden ever came into contact with these children, with all his offences relating to online activity.

As well as receiving a suspended sentence, he was also given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Investigating officer, detective constable Benn Murphy, said: “Accessing or downloading indecent imagery of children is not a victimless crime; perpetrators often don’t stop to think about the lives of young children destroyed by the abuse that takes place behind it.

“These images depict the worst possible forms of child abuse and those perpetrators who access them create a market for further images to be produced.

“People accessing indecent images, or with an interest in doing, should stop and seek help, which is available from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which operates a helpline service on 0808 1000 900.”