Man who lived opposite school had 10,382 child sex images

A DELIVERY driver who lived opposite a school was caught with more than 10,000 indecent images of children as young as two on his computer.

James Sheppard, pictured left, went into a state of shock when he was arrested.

Sentencing him at Newport Crown Court, Judge Tom Crowther QC described the defendant’s collection as a “carefully classified library”.

The court heard police searched his home in Blaina on August 28. An officer asked Sheppard if he had any indecent images and he pointed at his computer.

Jason Howells, prosecuting, said: “He was shaking.”

Sheppard was given water and allowed to get changed before being taken to Newport Central police station.

He remarked: “I was only saying to myself yesterday I should stop.”

An officer from Gwent Police found a total of 10,382 indecent images of children on the computer, including 318 videos. Prosecutors said 864 of the images were the most serious, Category A, with 903 at Category B and 8,615 at Category C.

Sheppard made full admissions in his police interview, and also admitted sharing indecent images online.

Sheppard, 53, from Parrot Row in Blaina, admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children, three counts of distributing them, and one count of possessing extreme pornography.

Jeffrey Jones, defending, said his client had no previous convictions. Sheppard was jailed for 32 months and made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He will have to sign as a sex offender at his local police station for life.