A FORMER soldier who had a sexual relationship with an under-age girl was caught with ‘extreme porn’, including indecent images of children on his computer.

The images viewed by 43-year-old Wayne Topping, which included a clip of a sex act involving an octopus, were described by a judge as ‘unpleasant, disturbing and appalling’.

Police found the material on his hard drive when they went to arrest him for historic sex offences against a teenager more than a decade ago.

Topping, of Johnston Street, Blackburn, was jailed for two years at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to two offences of indecent assault, five of possessing indecent images of children, and four other offences of possessing extreme pornography.

Miss Sara Dodd, prosecuting said Topping had a fully consensual relationship with a 14-year-old girl some years ago. She had “idolised” him.

The relationship had included full sex taking place on a couple of occasions.

The girl had also written affectionate letters to Topping.

She went on to “block out” what had happened.

Someone else had contacted the police and when the defendant was arrested, his computer was seized.

It was found that he had accessed 89 child porn images at level one, 22 at level two, 52 at level three, and 96 at level four, plus one moving clip.

In addition, there had been 158 images of extreme pornography.

The court heard the former soldier was a man of previous good character.

Andrew Nuttall, defending, said Topping had served his country for quite a number of years.

There were clearly good aspects to him.

“The defendant accepts that he will receive a custodial sentence.

“It will be his first custodial sentence,” Mr Nuttall told the court.

“There was no sharing of the images. He was not sending them to others and not storing them.

"He used to delete them. He has not been part of an internet site, communicating with other people.

“The images were for his viewing alone. He has pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.”

Judge Andrew Woolman told Topping: “The images are deeply unpleasant and disturbing, particularly the extreme pornography.

"They are thoroughly repulsive. The level four images involving children are appalling.”

Topping, who had been living in Surrey before returning to Blackburn before his arrest in December, will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years, subject to a sexual offences prevention order, and banned indefinitely from working with children.

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