A PAEDOPHILE who down-loaded more than 100 sexually explicit photographs of girls aged as young as 11 has escaped a jail sentence.

Ivon Roberts, 41, from Burgess Close, Stapeley, downloaded the images after paying to join a web-site peddling child pornography.

The married father-of-two then copied a number of the photo-graphs onto a CD which he hid amongst books in his study.

He was caught following an operation by American police targeting the owners of US firm Landslide Incorporated, which ran the so-called Lolita site.

They found Roberts's name, address and credit card details on the firm's database and passed evidence to Cheshire Constabulary.

Roberts, who owned a railway construction firm, was sentenced after pleading guilty to six counts of possessing indecent images.

A further 10 charges of making indecent images of children had been ordered to lie on file following an earlier court hearing.

Chester Crown Court heard Roberts kept 136 pictures of naked girls aged 11, 12 and 13, on a disc labelled Intercity which he viewed repeatedly over a year.

Wyn Lloyd-Jones prosecuting, said: 'He admitted the images had a potential to arouse him. '

Mark Le Broq, defending said his client was a of good character, had no previous convictions and pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.

Since his initial court appearances Roberts' business had collapsed as a result of the publicity and he had lost his home.

He is now living in a separate house to his wife and children and surviving off £63 incapacity benefit he due to depression.

Mr Le Broq said:' His fall from grace has been quite considerable.'

Judge Stephen Clarke retired to view the images.

Judge Stephen Clarke confiscated the CD and Roberts' Dell laptop computer and listed his name on the Sex Offenders' Register for the next five years.

He said: 'These cases involve the exploitation of the young. When they are photographed, whether they look happy or not, they are being physically, emotionally and mentally abused.'