Pervert said images were for '˜research'

David Guias, 49, of Lennox Court, South Shore, was arrested after a raid on his home.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images and one of possessing prohibited images of children at Preston Crown Court - but later told a probation officer it was for “research”.

The offences relate to a period between April 2006 and March 2016.

Judge Graham Knowles imposed a sexual harm prevention order restricting his internet access and made him sign the Sex Offender’s Register.

He said: “ The images are very largely of boys, they range from three or thereabouts up to 14. There are a large number of them. They were downloaded over a long period. It’s persistent offending.

“You had sexual gratification from it despite your insistence that you never had any such thing.

“You told the police a pack of lies when you were interviewed by them. It’s perfectly clear you are clear of denial, minimisation and justification.

“You say you have no emotions you look at these things in a purely analytical way. You say it was really a research project for your analytical mind. The reality is obvious to everybody.”

Prosecuting, Emma Keogh said: “The police obtained a search warrant and on April 21 they executed that warrant at the defendant’s home and arrested the defendant.

“They also seized various devices from his home address including a number of laptops and some discs.

“Those along with the defendant, were then conveyed to the police station.”

The court heard the police force’s computer department examined the devices and found the images on a silver hard drive and a laptop.

They also found Guias had used inappropriate search terms such as “Paedo boys” and “naked boys” on a Dell laptop although no images were found on it.

There were 279 images deemed as category A - the most serious in law, a further 138 at category B and 841 at category C. There were also 12 prohibited images of a child.

The court was told 12 discs were found to contain even more images but because of the scale of what had already been found, further charges were not brought.

Guias, who had no previous convictions, denied the offences in two interviews but later changed his plea.

Defending, Paul Humphries said: “His family are aware and are in court.”

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