Man found with 100,000 child sexual abuse images

Adam Dodden admitted possessing more than 100,000 child sexual abuse images

A man who spent more than a decade building up a collection of more than 100,000 images of child sexual abuse has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Adam Dodden, of Wiveliscombe in Somerset, was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Taunton Crown Court on Friday.

Avon and Somerset Police said: "These images depict the worst possible forms of child abuse and those perpetrators who access them create a market for further images to be produced."

The 40-year-old was also given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

The court was told that in 2024, Avon and Somerset Police established that indecent images of children were being downloaded by someone at a Wiveliscombe address.

The force's Internet Child Abuse Team executed a search warrant on 9 September and Dodden was arrested.

Police said Dodden was interviewed the same day, where he admitted responsibility and "expressed disgust" at what he had done.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, one count of the possession of prohibited images of children, and one count of possession of extreme pornography.

A detailed examination of Dodden's devices found that since 2010 he had collected 1,343 category A images - the most serious - 1,116 category B images and 108,036 category C images.

Dodden was also found to have 97 prohibited images of children, and three extreme pornographic images.

Avon and Somerset Police said there was no evidence Dodden ever came into contact with the children as all of his offences related to online activity.

Det Con Benn Murphy, said: "Accessing or downloading indecent imagery of children is not a victimless crime.

"Perpetrators often don't stop to think about the lives of young children destroyed by the abuse that takes place behind it."