A PSYCHOTIC paedophile who distributed 25 sexual videos of children from his flat has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Natan Emet Louise Locke-Church, 37, had more than 1100 illegal images and films of youngsters on his laptop and tablet, said James Howard, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

He had put sexual videos of children on peer-to-peer software and as a result, 19 videos of the worst category and six of the next category had been sent to other people.

Police raided Locke-Church's one-bedroom flat on December 18, 2019, after getting a tip-off that someone there was using the internet to access sexual images of children.

Locke-Church was put on the sex offenders’ register for life in 2007 when he was confined to a psychiatric hospital under the Mental Health Act for two sexual assaults on a sleeping teenager.

In 2021, his barrister Sean Smith said his mental health problems had continued after he was released from the psychiatric unit and he was still being treated by medical practitioners.

Part of the reason for his latest offences may be the problems he had had with his medication at the time, said the barrister.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, said normally people who distributed indecent images of children went to prison.

But because of Locke-Church’s mental health problems and he had not offended since the police raid, the judge suspended the 19-month sentence for two years on condition Locke-Church did 50 days’ rehabilitative activities and a sex offender treatment programme.

“You only get one chance,” he warned Locke-Church, telling him to keep taking his medication and keep off cannabis, which he said could cause psychoses.

He read a psychiatric report describing Locke-Church as “psychotic”.

Locke-Church, of Byland Avenue, off Huntington Road, pleaded guilty to two charges of distributing indecent images of children and three of possessing indecent images of children.

In addition to the suspended prison sentence, he was made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order giving police powers to enforce checks on his internet activity.