A PERVERT from Halesowen caught with over 72,000 vile indecent photographs and films of young children has been locked up for two and a half years.

Chad Harrington, aged 51, had been attracted to young girls since he was a boy and had previously been jailed for taking indecent photos of children.

Richard Gibbs, defending, said: "He is a man who knew he had a real and deep seated problem and he welcomed his arrest by police officers.

"He knew it was almost inevitable that what he was doing would be found out and he hoped the day would come so he could get help."

Harrington had been taken by surprise when told about the volume of sickening films and photographs he had amassed in his collection and he was "deeply remorseful."

Mr Gibbs told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Harrington accepted he should have sought help when he was younger adding: "He knows he could have done much more to address his behaviour but he did not do so because of the shame he felt."

He said Harrington, who had medical problems and walked with the aid of a stick, had been sexually attracted to young girls since he was around 10-years-old.

Harrington was also fully aware of the fact that the thousands of images he collected showed children being sexually abused.

Judge Michael Challinor told Harrington, of Windmill Hill, the case was aggravated by the fact he had been jailed for a year in 1996 for taking indecent photographs of a child.

The judge said: "Some of the images you had are of the worst kind and they show young children being sexually abused in the worst possible way.

"Your previous conviction demonstrates that only custody will stop you.

"People who distribute this kind of vile material must know they will face a prison sentence."

Harrington admitted three charges of distributing the indecent images, five of making indecent images and another of possessing prohibited images.

He was further made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Protection Order by the Judge who ruled he must also register as a sex offender for an indefinite period.

Ben Close, prosecuting, said police officers seized computer equipment belonging to Harrington and found the pornographic material.

There were films and photographs in the worst possible category together with 62,072 in a lesser category while 10,000 more items had not been analysed by officers because of a lack of resources.