Desperate Leeds paedophile tried to get rid of phone when police came to his home
His grandmother told police he had devices after he denied it
A paedophile desperately tried to dispose of his phone when police came knocking on his door to arrest him.
Joe Sarginson had been searching out and collecting vile images, and even shared some with like-minded perverts.
Despite this, he maintains he has no sexual interest in children, claiming he was drinking and taking drugs at the time after a relationship breakdown.
But the judge at Leeds Crown Court said he needed to face up to his sexual interest in children.
The 24-year-old escaped with a suspended sentence after admitting a list of offences.
Prosecutor Danielle Beaumont said police had gone to Seginson's address on March 13 last year after a tip off.
They asked if he recognised a Gmail address.
He told them he had no digital devices, but his grandmother mentioned he had a tablet in his bedroom.
He was arrested and as he went to his bedroom to get changed, he tried to dispose of a mobile phone in his pocket but was stopped by the officer.
During his interview he admitted being responsible, but denied being attracted to children.
Following an analysis of the devices, 548 images were found, including over 200 of the most serious abuse involving children being raped.
Even more seriously, they found that be had sent two images over the app, Telegram, to other paedophiles.
Sarginson, of Scott Green Crescent, Gildersome, has two previous convictions for four offences, but none for sexual crimes.
He admitted two counts of distributing images, possession of prohibited images, possession of extreme pornographic images and three counts possessing indecent images.
Mitigating, Daisy Wrigley said Sarginson apologised for his offending.
She added: "He knows what he did was wrong. He is absolutely disgusted with himself and assures the court it's not something that will be repeated."
She said there was no evidence that he distributed images to groups of people.
Ms Wrigley said he was diagnosed with ADHD. She said he stopped work after a car crash, but Judge Andrew Stubbs KC interjected and said it was also related to his excessive cocaine use.
He said that his drug use and breakdown of his relationship was not a valid reason for searching out child abuse images.
He said it was for sexual gratification.
He said: "You must have gone out and searched for that."
He added: "You need to face up to the fact you are sexually attracted to children.
"It's not unusual, but you have to deal with that."
He gave him a 28-month sentence, suspended for 24 months. He ordered he complete the 26-session rehabilitation programme, Better Choices, 20 days with probation and 200 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Stubbs said: "This is a one-off chance. If there's any repetition, you are effectively saying to the court 'lock me up'.”