Pervert says; “Doesn’t it feel great to be a paedo” after downloading and sharing videos and images of children as young as four being sexually abused

A teenager who kept child sexual abuse videos and offered to share it online has walked away from court with a community order.

William Hodges, 18, from Clacton, had material involving children as young as four.

Messages accompanying the images included: “Doesn’t it feel great to be a paedo.”

Yet he told police he had stumbled across the material by accident.

Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard officers searched his home in November the previous year. Two iPhones contained category A, B and C videos – With A showing rape or sexual torture

Prosecutor Angharad Bizby said Hodges communicated with 26 other Reddit users, sought further abuse videos/images and told one person he had images of young teenagers he could share through Telegram.

Judge Jonathan Karani condemned his behaviour as “abhorrent” and described the messages as “vile”, saying they demonstrated a clear sexual interest in children.

The judge also confronted him with the suffering behind the material, telling him that demand from people like him sustained an industry built on children’s misery.

Hodges was given a one-year community order, 200 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation days.

The Probation Service assessed him as posing a low risk of reoffending and a medium risk to children.

In mitigation, the court heard he had received an offer to study at Canterbury Christ Church University.

A five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order requires him to inform police if he has a device capable of accessing the internet.

He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.