Paedophile on ecstasy downloaded sick images onto his mum's laptop

A paedophile who downloaded child rape videos on a laptop he shared with his mother has escaped jail.

Michael Pegg, 44, amassed a sickening collection of over 5,000 indecent images of children, including eight Category A images and videos depicting the rape of children as young as six.

Pegg transferred the files to a hard drive to avoid his mother discovering them, then viewed the content on his TV. He was caught by police after they received intelligence that his internet address had been used to download indecent images.

When confronted, Pegg blamed his behavior on heavy cannabis and ecstasy use. However, he was spared a prison sentence after a judge ruled he now recognized his problem and was "open to help to put it right."

Liverpool Crown Court heard that police raided Pegg's home in Southport on July 4, 2022. They seized a laptop and hard drive, with Pegg confessing, "That's got my naughty stuff on it."

Pegg, who had previously been taken to hospital due to concerns about his mental health, admitted to downloading the files over a period of four to five years, often using torrent sites.

He said he deleted some files but saved others on the hard drive, viewing them on his TV. He confessed to being disgusted with himself and said he made sure the images were transferred off the laptop to avoid his mother seeing them.