November 2014: Christopher Marsden now calls himself Chris Glatter and has an active Facebook account.

March 2009

Man had 37,000 child abuse images on his computer

A MAN who was caught with thousands of child sex abuse images on his computer has been jailed for 12 months.

Police seized more than 37,000 images and video clips at Christopher Marsden’s home in Herbert Road, Shoeburyness, in January 2007.

The images, found in the 26-year-old’s bedroom in the house he shared with his parents, included some depicting the most serious abuse of children.

Marsden, now of Southchurch Hall Close, Southend, admitted 20 charges of possessing indecent images of a child.

Sitting at Maidstone Crown Court Judge James O’Mahony told him it was sad to see someone using such material for sexual gratification.

He added: “The fact is, it is wholly repellent to the public. It is not a crime in a vacuum, because real kids have to take part in these shows.

“They are either so inured in what they are doing, they are happy to go along with it, or they are being forced. That would not happen if people didn’t press the button on their computer like you did and download this filthy material.”

Referring to one particularly unpleasant picture, the judge said: “This image is of a real child.

“Those who get involved in this must be punished.”

In addition to his jail sentence, Marsden was banned from working with children and placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.