A VICTIM of sexual abuse when he was a child is himself today a registered sex offender with restraints on what he can do online.

Police found sexual videos and photographs of children on Luke Smith’s computer when they raided his home, said Rob Galley, prosecuting.

“He was himself the subject of abuse 20 years ago,” said Smith’s solicitor advocate Neal Kutte. “There was a person who was investigated by the police, but no action was taken at the time. That may be part of it,”

Smith, 28, of Greenwood Grove, Acomb, cried in the dock at York Crown Court during the case as he was given a three-year community order with 10 days’ rehabilitative activities and a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

He pleaded guilty to four charges of having indecent images of children. In addition to the sentence, he was put on the sex offenders’ register and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order restricting his use of the internet. Both orders will last for five years.

Mr Galley said police found six videos of the most serious category of sexual child abuse and three at the middle category on his computer.

They also found two photographs of the lowest category, software that could delete what the computer user had been looking at and special browser software that concealed the user’s identity from others.

Police also found evidence Smith had been searching for sexual images of children. The youngest child in the images was about eight years old.

Mr Kutte said Smith had lost his job, his home and his relationship as a result of the police case.

“He knows he needs assistance, he knows he needs help and he knows he must be punished,” said the solicitor advocate.

Smith had started taking counselling and medication. He was remorseful for his actions and suffering from depression.