A POLICE raid prevented a sex offender from sending indecent images of children to other people like him, York Crown Court heard.

For years, Christopher Steven Goodyear, 31, downloaded sexual pictures and films of children as young as three, Aisha Wadoodi, prosecuting, said.

But his secret world ended when the national Child Exploitation and Online Protection group alerted North Yorkshire Police to his activities and he was arrested. Detectives found 2,372 pictures, of which 500 were of more serious levels of child abuse, and seven videos.

After reading logs of some of the online chats Goodyear had taken part in, the Recorder of York Judge Stephen Ashurst told him: “I suspect it was only going to be a matter of time before you were going to be distributing images to like-minded people.

“Behind these images are very often children who have been abused and you were taking part in that activity by viewing these images online.”

Goodyear, 31, of The Wandle, Chapelfields, York, was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years on condition he did a sex offenders’ treatment programme and two years’ supervision.

He was also put on the sex offenders’ register and made subject to a sexual offences prevention order curtailing his internet activities, both for ten years, and ordered to pay £500 prosecution costs.

He pleaded guilty to 11 charges of possessing indecent images of children a few days before his trial was due to be held.

A charge of distributing indecent images of children was left on file.

Miss Wadoodi said he had blamed another sex offender for the images found on his laptop in his trial.

For Goodyear, Glenn Parsons said of his attempts to blame others: “That was the level of fear and shame he felt.

“It is a pity he wasn’t man enough to admit this earlier on.”

Goodyear was a gritting lorry driver who worked at night and after work lived a “private” world on the internet.

His family couldn’t understand why he had done what he had, but were standing by him.