Sunderland man rebuilt sickening collection of child abuse images after police seized original haul

Officers found thousands of images on Steven Cawood's lap top and mobile phone when they raided his home in October 2018 and took the devices.

Newcastle Crown Court heard when police went back to his house again in May 2019, Cawood had already replaced his disgusting collection on another lap top.

The 43-year-old of Lily Street, Sunderland, admitted making and possessing a total of 1,800 Category A images and movies, which is the most serious category, 1,110 category B and 5,567 category C.

The court heard Cawood insists he has no sexual interest in children and his fixation was in "collecting".

Prosecutor Elizabeth Muir told the court the images included videos and pictures and added: "They were mainly female children, although there were somemales, aged between four and 16 years."

The court heard some of the material had been downloaded from live streaming sites and Cawood had internet software that enabled others to view his images.

There were a total of 246 hours of Category A movies, showing "children being sexually abused in the most abhorrent ways".

Cawood also admitted possessing an extreme pornography image featuring a woman engaged in a sex act with a dog.

Judge Julie Clemitson said the offending was "sickening and serious" and sentenced Cawood to 32 months behind bars.

He must sign the sex offenders register and abide by a sexual harm prevention order for life.

Judge Clemitson told him: "The most serious aggravating feature is when you were arrested you didn't stop, you didn't realise then that you had a problem and seek help for it but instead you tried to replace the images the police had taken from you."

The judge said the harm done to the children who feature in the images is "immeasurable" and told Cawood: "It's people like you who perpetuate that trade".

Shada Mellor, defending, said: "He is adamant he does not have a sexual interest in children."

Miss Mellor said Cawood's interest was in "collecting and cataloguing images" and he had a "fixation in collecting" due to a compulsive disorder.

Miss Mellor said when police seized Cawood's first illegal collection he had "feelings of emptiness" and had started to rebuild it.

The court heard Cawood has physical and psychological problems and "rarely leaves his home".