A Banstead man who downloaded more than 1,000 indecent images of children and shared indecent images of himself with a lover has been spared jail.

Jack Sprenger, 21, of Bridgefield Close, Banstead, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court today for downloading and distributing the images over a six-year period.

He was given a three-year community order in which he must attends 60 days at a sexual offenders’ programme, and must sign the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Sprenger developed an interest in sexual images of young children when he was 14, the court heard today. He continued to download the “obscene” images up until his arrest in November 2015.

In total, he ‘made’ 1,152 indecent images of children on or before November 11, 2015. The charge of ‘making’ an image normally refers to downloading the image onto a computer.

Sprenger also distributed 23 indecent images of children via Skype with a user named Petitboy5 in September 2012. The distributed images were of him and a young man, with whom he was in a relationship with Sprenger was 17.

Prosecuting, Lee Harris, told the court that chat logs on Skype showed that Sprenger said he “would not sell materials, but would trade them”.

Defending, Mr Rod Hayler, said that within a week of his arrest, Sprenger had sought the help of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused, and referred himself to a therapist for counselling.

Sprenger pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children, and one charge of distributing such images at Redhill Magistrates’ Court on May 16.

From May: Banstead man Jack Sprenger pleads guilty to downloading more than 1,000 indecent images of children and sharing them via Skype

Sentencing, Judge Stephen Climie told Sprenger: “I’m satisfied that when you were 14 you developed an interest an interest in sexual images of others of a young age.

“That interest, however, continued and continued to the extent that you were viewing and downloading images of an obscene nature – some of those in the highest category – over a significant period of time.

“When these matters were directed to you, you immediately located the devices for the police and admitted that it was your responsibility and not anyone else’s.

“Had it not been for your admission and approach I probably would have been thinking of an immediate prison sentence. There is little we can do to deter people from making such images but we can make it clear exactly what is going to happen if you view such images.

“The children who are subjected to some of the most disgraceful behaviour need to be protected.

“You are, as you should be, ashamed of your behaviour – not just for yourself, but for those who are here today to have to watch their son, friend or brother in the dock.”

Sprenger was given three-year community orders for each charge which will run concurrently. He was spared jail on the condition that he attends 60 days at a sexual offenders’ programme, and must sign the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Judge Climie warned Sprenger: “If you and I meet again in the next three years because you have committed further offences, I’m going to send you straight to prison. (There will be) no second chance.”