A PAEDOPHILE had more than 11,000 images and videos of child sex abuse and bestiality on his computer, phone, and printed out and sorted in to folders.

Police raided the home of Andrew McGown, 62, of Tan Y Bryn, near Llandysul, on the morning of May 11 last year.

While searching the address, officers found several folders in the bedroom containing printed out images of child sexual abuse, prosecutor Georgia Donohue said. They also seized a number of devices, and McGown was arrested.

The devices contained pictures and videos, 160 of Category A – the most extreme; 164 of Category B; 9,655 of Category C; and 1,324 extreme pornographic images – or bestiality.

The folders included 54 indecent images – including 17 of Category A, three of Category B and 34 of Category C.

The Category A images on McGown’s devices included a video of a girl aged between six and nine years old being raped by an adult man, while the extreme pornography included a video of an adult woman performing oral sex on a dog.

McGown’s search history included “girls drinking animal c**”, “naked little girls” and “kiddie porn”, Ms Donohue said.

The files on his computer dated back as far as May 2007.

Ms Donohue said McGown told police he didn’t have a sexual interest in children or bestiality, but was “curious”.

“You’d think if he looked at one or two images that would have sated his curiosity, not 9,000.” Judge Paul Thomas.

Judge Thomas said he rejected McGown’s “ridiculous suggestion” that his offending was “out of curiosity”.

McGown – who had no previous convictions – admitted three charges of making indecent photographs of children, and one of possessing extreme pornography.

“He is a loner. He lives a relatively isolated existence. He hardly goes out,” said Ian Ibrahim, defending.

“His fall from grace has been almost bottomless.

“The burning question is ‘Why did he print some out?’. He said he was stupid and simply had too much time on his hands.”

Addressing McGown, Judge Thomas said: “You were getting sexual thrills from images of a girl aged between six and nine being raped by a man’s penis.

"You were getting sexual thrills from images of a girl aged between four and six being penetrated by a sex toy. You got sexual thrills from images of a woman performing oral sex on a dog.

“9,000 of [these videos and images] seems like an awful lot of curiosity. It’s quite clear what you were looking for.”

Judge Thomas handed McGown a 10-month sentence for the Category A images, suspended for 18 months.

McGown received four months each for the Category B and extreme pornography charges, and two months for the Category C charge – all running concurrently.

He must also complete 40 days of rehabilitation activity requirement, 250 hours of unpaid work, and he must complete the Maps for Change programme.

McGown was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender – both for 10 years.