Roger Hawes, 57, was caught with a cache of 15,933 images when police seized four electronic devices, Southampton Crown Court heard.
The photos were found on a tower computer and a laptop and included both still images and videos.
Among them were 386 Category A images – the most severe kind – as well as 461 Category B and a huge 15,086 Category C.
Judge Nicholas Rowland described some of the photos as “particularly grave” adding that the children involved were in “discernable pain or distress in at least some” of them.
Roger Hawes outside Southampton Crown Court (Image: NQ)
Hawes, a mechanic from Pantheon Road, Chandler’s Ford, was charged with three counts of making indecent images but did not plead at his first appearance at Southampton Magistrates’ Court.
He later entered guilty pleas to all three charges at the crown court, saying he had a “lack of knowledge that the images were downloaded”.
Prosecutor, James Kellam said: “The charge is making. Copies would have been made on the defendant’s computer with or without his knowledge.
“There is no suggestion that he shot the original images in this case.”
Keely Harvey, mitigating added that her client was not aware of all of the images on the devices and has health issues, adding that he “needs that help”.
“He needs just to make sure that he doesn’t go back to this. He will use whatever spare time he has got to do what he can.
“At the moment he is working as a mechanic. He has got the support of his wife.
“She said he is a very hard-working man. She will stand by and support him. ”
Hawes received a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months at a hearing on Wednesday.
He must complete 180 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation days, as well as register as a sex offender.
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Hawes is also the subject of a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
A deprivation order was made for the seized devices.
Judge Rowland added: “Possession of one of these images is bad enough.
“There are dreadful.
“Each image reflects a child somewhere in the world being abused for the purpose of someone like you, going through the most dreadful experience so people like you can see what is going on.”
