A father involved in collecting and sharing child sexual abuse material has avoided immediate imprisonment after magistrates suspended his sentence.

Kye Vallance, 29, of Eastview Road, Trowbridge, admitted offences involving indecent images of children, including distributing an image.

The material included images in Category A—the most serious classification—as well as Categories B and C.

At Salisbury Magistrates’ Court, Vallance also admitted possessing an extreme pornographic image involving sexual intercourse between a person and a live dog

When assessing the seriousness of his offending, magistrates highlighted the ages of the children depicted, the quantity of material and the period over which the offences took place. His active participation in an image-sharing network was another aggravating factor.

The bench concluded that the offending crossed the threshold for a prison sentence. However, it decided to suspend the term because of his previous good character and prospects for rehabilitation.

Vallance received 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a requirement to undertake up to 35 rehabilitation activity days.

He will remain on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order will also apply for a decade.