A pervert caught with sickening child abuse images on children as young as four-to-six-months old has walked free from court.

Michael Sidaway had more than 1,000 images and videos stashed on digital devices which he had downloaded over a 12-year-period.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 60-year-old also possessed a prohibited sexualised image of Lisa Simpson from the long running cartoon series.

Elisha Marsay, prosecuting, said the defendant had 282 Category A images – the worst of its kind; 278 Category B images, 594 Category C images, and two prohibited images which were downloaded between 2012 and January this year.

The court heard how some of the victims in the pictures and videos were as young as six-months old at the time of the sexual abuse.

Sidaway, of Ridley Drive, Stockton, pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of in categories A, B and C, and possession of prohibited images.

Michele Turner, mitigating, urged the judge to spare her client from immediate custody as he was an unregistered carer for his elderly mother and led an isolated and lonely life.

She added: “The best and most compelling mitigation I can put forward is that there was very early co-operation with the police, in fact almost instantly upon the police attending, the offence was admitted.”

Judge Chris Smith sentenced Sidaway to 12 months in custody suspended for two years and ordered him to attend 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days to address his behaviour.

“I have to sentence you for a series of quite disgusting offences,” he said. “You have to sentenced for possession of indecent images of children, including babies.

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“Here amongst the many hundreds of images that were on your devices were moving images of on one occasion the abuse of a baby aged four-six months.

“I’m troubled by the volume of the images and I’m troubled by the long period of time you have been collecting these images.”

Sidaway was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register and an application for sexual harm prevention order will be made in due course.

Judge Smith added: “Those who engage in obtaining, collecting and deriving sexual pleasure from these disgusting images, fuels the whole industry which involves, on the other side of the camera, a child being sexually abused.”