A MAN'S interest in indecent pictures of very young children cost him his marriage and his involvement in his church, York Crown Court heard.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said Thomas Sykes, 29, searched the internet for images of youngsters for two years.

When police raided his home in Lady Mill Garth, Clifton, they found more than 1,100 sexual videos and pictures of children aged as young as four to six years old.

Sykes pleaded guilty to six charges of having indecent images of children and one of have a single picture of extreme porn.

He was given a three-year community order with a sex offender treatment programme and 30 days' rehabilitative activities.

He was also put on the sex offenders' register and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, both for five years.

For him, Alex Menary said the case had had a big impact on Sykes' life.

It had led to the the break-up of his marriage and he was no longer in volved in the church as he had been in the past.

There would be no rehabilitative work done with him in prison and a probation officer had assessed him as being of low risk of reoffending.

The defence barrister handed in references on behalf of Sykes.

Mr Newcome said police found the illegal images on Sykes' mobile phone.

They included four videos and 74 pictures of the worst category of abuse, four videos and 460 pictures of the middle category and 11 videos and 592 pictures of the least serious form of abuse.