A PERVERT who was caught with more than 30,000 indecent pictures and videos of children was jailed for five years last week.

Philip Bennett also admitted to police that he had slept with a 15-year-old girl after they found naked images of her on his mobile phone.

Judge Alexia Durran heard Bennett was under investigation by Welsh Police for the sexual activity with the teenager, when Thames Valley Police raided his home following a tip off.

When officers arrived they found devices containing thousands of pictures and videos containing children as young as babies which he later admitted to downloading.

The judge dismissed Bennett's defence of being on the Autistic Spectrum Register, saying the condition does not lead people to commit such crimes.

He told officers he had tried to hide the pictures when he heard them burst through his door in Cottesmore Road, Woodley, and said "my life is over, what if there are things on there, I used to be able to prevent this from happening."

The court heard Bennett confessed to having sex with the 15-year-old girl and downloading the images, which contained children as young as babies, following his arrest in June last year.

Prosecuting, Elizabeth Bussey-Jones, said: "He told police there would be hundreds of images between categories A and C, hundreds turned out to be thousands.

"He said the children would be as young as five-years-old, they go right down to the age of babies.

"He admitted to using the search term PTHC, which stands for Pre Teen Hardcore."

Timothy Banks, defending, said Bennett should be given full credit for admitting to the charges at a plea and case management hearing last year, adding: "Essentially, in counts one to four, the crown's case was based on his confession.

"The defendant does suffer from Autistic Spectrum Disorder, that impacts his personality and behaviour.

"He finds it easier living in a world where he is dealing with a computer rather than face to face."

The 34-year-old admitted four counts of indecency with a child, one count of taking indecent images of children and one count of making indecent images of children at a hearing last year.

He was jailed for a total of 60 months for all six counts, and will serve two years on licence following his release from prison.

Sentencing, Judge Durran said Bennett he had been identified as someone posing significant risk to members of the public.

"You told police that you started looking at these images when you were at a young age," she said.

"In June 2015 Thames Valley Police executed a search warrant due to concerns you were still downloading images.

"There are a number of people with this condition that don't commit offences of that kind."

The judge also dealt Bennett an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

He denied a further three charges which will remain on file but not further sentence was passed.