A PAEDOPHILE who amassed a collection of almost half a million child sex abuse images walked from court – after being handed a suspended sentence.

Abuse “addict” Robert Swanepoel’s vile stash was so large the authorities only managed to categorise around 47,000 of the images and videos – with a further 400,000 files saved on computers and hard drives.

Swindon Crown Court heard the 35-year-old had more than 21 hours' worth of abuse videos. He had also trawled the net for indecent images, using search terms like “teen” and “young little girls”.

Prosecuting, Tessa Hingston said the Swanepoel had been browsing the internet when a pop-up directed him to a website of child abuse images. After that, he began going looking for the vile images.

The collection was saved on a Toshiba laptop, an Acer computer, Firestorm hard drive and a Kingston USB stick. Some files had been encrypted and the collection had been sorted into categories.

He had spent four-and-a-half years collecting the images before detectives knocked on his door in November 2018.

Interviewed by police, Swanepoel denied being sexually attracted to children, He said he posed no danger to children.

He said collecting the images was a habit: “It’s like a drug addiction.”

Swanepoel, of Richmond Road, Rodbourne Cheney, admitted making 34 category A indecent images of children – which includes images depicting rape – 126 still images and 45 videos in the middle category and 46,430 images and 168 movies in category B. He had 34 prohibited images of children.

Defending, Emma Handslip said her client had grown increasingly isolated – despite holding down a job at the same company for 15 years.

She hinted at health difficulties: “This is somebody who has had a very, very difficult and challenging life from a very young age.

“This is not an excuse for his behaviour but perhaps an explanation to the court about why he’s become isolated.”

Swanepoel had come clean at the earliest opportunity during his interview with detectives, she said.

Despite the significant 13-month delay in the case getting to court, Swanepoel had kept off the police radar. There was no suggestion that he had viewed any further child abuse images after he was arrested. The images he did collect had not been distributed.

Ms Handslip pointed to the conclusions of a pre-sentence report compiled by the probation service, saying there was a realistic likelihood Swanepoel could be rehabilitated and kept out of prison.

Swanepoel was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years, with Judge Jason Taylor QC acknowledging the defendant could be rehabilitated.

The judge said he had no doubt the case passed the custody threshold: “There were a further 400,000 images and videos that were not reviewed given the sheer number but the aggravating features involved in the case was that you had made searches, there were multiple victims some of a very young age, your offending lasted over a four-and-a-half year period and you had even taken the time to categorise the images some in encrypted folders.”

EXPLAINER: Swindon pervert Robert Swanepoel's suspended sentence explained

Swanepoel must complete 40 rehabilitation activity sessions and abide by a six-month curfew. He was made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and will need to sign on to the sex offenders’ register for a decade.