A Chelmsford pervert caught with child porn and extreme pornography has been spared jail and told by a judge to "man up."
Instead of putting Stephen Tunstill, 58, behind bars even though she said he deserved it Chelmsford Crown Court judge,, Recorder Patricia Lynch QC, made Tunstill the subject of a three year community order.
As part of the order he must attend an internet sex offenders programme and for five years must remain on the sex offenders register and comply with a sex offenders prevention order.
Tunstill, pleaded guilty to two charges of downloading indecent images of children and one offence of possessing extreme pornography, all between 1 March and 3 September.
As she sentenced him the judge told him : ""It's all very well crying through you're police interview. You've got to man up."
The judge continued : "You deserve to go to prison but I have a duty not to leave your problem untreated."
Prosecutor, Sorrell Cameron said there were ten still images - one at level one, one at level two, four at level three and four at level four - one movie lasting 36 seconds of a child at level four and six images of "extreme pornography."
Tunstill, who had received a caution for similar offences in 2011, was visited by police last September and the images were found when they checked his lap top.
When interviewed, Tunstill claimed he had an "addiction to pornography" and that "he wanted to get caught because he accepted he had a problem."
His counsel, Caroline Noonan, told the court Tunstill described himself as addicted, hopeless, a lost cause and was disgusted with himself.
She added : "He knew he would get caught and wanted to."