A paedophile who employed "sophisticated" means to prevent police from detecting his internet use was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court today.
The court heard how Adam Johnston, 30, of Ampthill Road in Aigburth, had used a VPN network to hide his computer’s IP address and a TOR browser that prevents a user’s internet activity from being tracked.
Johnston had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of making and possessing indecent videos and images of children at an earlier hearing.
Prosecuting, Paul Blasbery, told the court that on June 21 2019, police had attended Johnston’s previous address in Liverpool City Centre and seized a laptop and a pen drive from his flat.
They were later found to contain 237 indecent images of children, made between March 15 2015 and July 19 2018.
142 of the images were category A – considered the worst kind – which included 116 videos and 26 still images, some which featured children as young as 12 to 18 months old.
The remaining 185 images consisted of both category B and C images and videos of children.
The court also heard that Johnston had eight previous convictions for 23 offences dating from 2004 to 2011.
Mr Killen, defending, told the judge that Johnston wanted to "move away from his past".
He said: "In committing these offences he [Johnston] had relapsed and failed.
"He had been working away and began to drink alone which made him go back to his old ways."
Mr Killen added that Johnston was "a good candidate for rehabilitation" and that imposing a jail sentence on his client would have a "catastrophic effect on his training and housing and likely leave him vulnerable to re-offending".
Sentencing, Judge Robert Warnock told Johnston: "Those children were as young as 12 to 18 months old.
"The equipment you used was sophisticated and intended to frustrate those investigating.
"It is clear that you retain a sexual interest in young children and I have an obligation to protect the public."
Johnston was sentenced to 12 months in prison and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.
