A YORK child porn cameraman who filmed an eight-year-old girl in her mother's underwear has been ordered to undergo treatment as a sex offender.

Terence Amesbury, 48, indecently assaulted the girl when he took pictures of her in a way that caused her distress, York Crown Court heard.

He also filmed her playing in a Wendy house and under a table when she was unaware of his actions, Jeremy Hill-Baker, prosecuting, said. Amesbury later copied the images on to a VHS loop.

He told police Amesbury had had an underwear fetish for more than 20 years and that he had felt a sudden urge to film the girl. He watched the film for his own gratification.

Judge Jim Spencer QC accepted that his psychological state was behind the offences and ordered him to undergo a sex offender treatment programme as part of a three-year community rehabilitation order. He also put him on the sex offenders' register for five years.

Amesbury, 48, formerly of Lime Tree Avenue, New Earswick, and now living in a Newcastle probation service hostel, pleaded guilty to making and possessing child pornography.

Alasdair Campbell, representing Amesbury, said the incident was a one-off in relation to young girls.

On three occasions Amesbury had attempted or thought about suicide because he felt unable to live with the shame and the guilt.

Updated: 11:57 Saturday, June 14, 2003