Paedophile found with sick photos of young girls during routine police visit.

A paedophile has been sentenced for possessing a sick collection of indecent photos of children as young as two years old.

Lee Bayliss, 49, used search terms including "13yo" and "girl w***" to access images of children being abused. He amassed a collection of over 1,100 horrifying images over a two-year period, beginning shortly after he was given a community order for similar offenses.

In 2018, Bayliss was issued a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) at Gloucester Crown Court, prohibiting him from deleting his search history and requiring him to surrender any internet-accessible devices when requested by an officer.

Bayliss, of Sephton Drive, Ormskirk, attempted to conceal his depraved behavior using virtual software. However, Lancashire Constabulary officers uncovered his actions during a visit to his home on August 6, 2022.

Peter Barr, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court that police officers visited Bayliss's residence as part of routine monitoring of his status as a sexual offender. He allowed them into his home and handed over devices including an iPhone 6, HP laptop, and an Android Zebra mobile computer. However, officers noticed an iPhone 4 on charge that had not been surrendered.

Upon closer inspection, the iPhone 4 was found to have limited apps and data, which Bayliss explained by saying it had been wiped. However, he could not recall when this occurred. This alone constituted a breach of his SOPO.

Further investigation revealed that an Apple Mac had recently connected to Bayliss's Wi-Fi. Bayliss initially denied owning such a computer but then claimed it was in pieces and unused. This lie was quickly exposed, revealing the use of virtual software to operate the computer without leaving a trace.

Another breach of the SOPO was found on the Android device, which showed that its Google data history had been paused or deleted.

Mr. Barr stated that despite Bayliss's claim of not looking at pornography and no traces being found on any devices, police accessed his Nokia phone and found frequent access to pornography, including searches for terms like "13yo", "teen", and "girl w***".

The 74 Category A images found on the devices depicted pre-pubescent girls aged two to four, three to six, and six to ten.

Bayliss, with two previous convictions for 15 offenses, pleaded guilty to deleting data in breach of his SOPO and four counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Kristian Cavanagh, defending, stated that Bayliss recognizes the abhorrent nature of his actions and attributes them to a lapse, expressing a desire to stop viewing such images.

Sentencing Bayliss, Judge Simon Medland QC described the offenses as "persistent breach offending" and noted the close proximity in time to the community order, effectively amounting to offending while on licence.

He expressed disappointment that Bayliss failed to recognize the unacceptability of his sexual behavior after the community order in 2018.

Bayliss was sentenced to 27 months in prison.