Spying pervert jailed for massive collection of child abuse images.

A pervert from Dawlish has been jailed for amassing a huge collection of child abuse images and videos downloaded from the dark web.

Paul Powell, 56, of Springfield Gardens, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison. He was also found to have set up a spy camera to secretly film a woman in a bathroom.

Police seized computers from Powell's home and discovered over 50,000 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. A shocking 3,000 of these were classified as Category A, representing the most serious and depraved content.

The judge presiding over the case stated that Powell was heavily addicted to viewing online pornography and that the material he accessed became increasingly extreme over time. Prosecutor Mr Nigel Wraith revealed that police traced an IP address associated with illegal downloads to Powell.

A search of Powell's property in February 2022 yielded numerous devices containing a vast quantity of indecent images of children, downloaded from a secure dark web network. The collection included 2,967 Category A images, 2,403 Category B images, and approximately 50,000 Category C images.

The investigation also uncovered evidence that Powell had searched Google for child abuse material. Additionally, police discovered footage from a spy camera he had purchased, which captured a woman visitor using the shower without her knowledge.

Powell pleaded guilty to three offenses: making indecent images of children, possessing extreme pornographic images, and possessing prohibited images of a child.

Mr Warren Robinson, defending Powell, argued that his client was a man of previous good character who had sought help for his behavior. He acknowledged that Powell had attempted to stop his deviant habits but had unfortunately relapsed. Robinson emphasized that Powell had not shared any of the images and expressed remorse for his actions.

Judge James Patrick imposed a sexual harm prevention order on Powell and ordered him to register as a sex offender for a period of ten years.