Thomas Poole, 31, was jailed for 22 years, with an extended licence period of eight years, by Judge Christopher Critchlow

A 'dangerous' paedophile tied up and raped a six-month-old baby girl and shared photos of the abuse online.

Thomas Poole, from Ash in Surrey, was found posting the sick pictures by an undercover police officer, who also found conversations on an internet chatroom in which he gave advice about how to abuse babies.

The chilling case was heard at Guildford Crown Court and echoed that of former Lostprophets front and convicted child abuser Ian Watkins.

Poole, 31, was jailed for 22 years, with an extended licence period of eight years, by Judge Christopher Critchlow.

The judge said the baby's mother, who cannot be named to protect her daughter's identity, told how her 'whole world fell apart' on discovering the horrific abuse.

She said her child was a 'happy baby but always quite serious,' who was 'scared of men - terrified of them.'

Wendy Cottee, prosecuting, said the case was one of an 'extreme nature' in which Poole had taken and distributed graphic images of child abuse, as well as having a huge cache of child pornography.

She told how Poole had first posted sick pictures of himself touching babies and later ones of him raping one he had tied up, with advice on how he had 'managed' to do so.

Much of the worst excesses of his abuse, including carrying out depraved acts on children, emerged from the logs of detailed chats Poole had with fellow paedophiles, said Ms Cottee.

As well as sexually assaulting youngsters, he talked about other children he planned to abuse and spoke of sharing them with other men.

He also told another child abuse chatroom user that he 'didn't feel anything' when asked about his emotions about performing such acts on a baby and chillingly even detailed how he planned child abuse to leave no physical traces, so he would not be caught out.

When he was first arrested he told officers, 'this is ridiculous,' before later admitting 14 separate counts of child abuse.

The court heard he had previously received a suspended sentence in 2008 for possessing indecent images of children.

Rina-Marie Hill, defending, said the only mitigation she could offer was her client's early guilty pleas.

'He accepts what he has done and he has shown that through indicating his guilty pleas through this court,' she said.

'There is hope across the board that because of the very, very young age, she won't have any recollection of these offences.'

In apologetic letters written to family members from prison, Poole admitted abusing children but begged: 'Please do not make me out to be a monster.'

Referencing the infamous case of Ian Watkins, who was sentenced to 35 years for attempting to rape an 11-month-old baby while its mother was present, Ms Hill stressed that there had been no complicity of parents in Poole's offending.

The chilling case was heard at Guildford Crown Court (file photo) and echoed that of former Lostprophets front and convicted child abuser Ian Watkins

Poole admitted two counts of rape on a child under 13, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of distributing indecent images of a child under 13, four counts of taking indecent images of a child under 13 and four counts of making indecent images of a child under 13.

Dressed in a grey short sleeved shirt, dark-haired Poole looked emotionless as the harrowing details of his crimes were detailed to the court.

As well as a lengthy jail term, he has been placed on the Sex Offender's Register indefinitely and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Judge Critchlow told Poole: 'You have to be sentenced for 14 offences which include the oral and anal rape of a baby girl.

'These offences took place when she (the baby) was between six and 18 months old.

'Anybody who has heard of the matters will possibly wonder how anybody could behave in such a depraved way.

'It's difficult for a court to imagine a worse case of the breach of trust of a baby. You didn't only do physical assaults, you took hundreds of images.'

Detective Constable Rebecca Kilpatrick of the Surrey Police Safeguarding Investigation Unit said: 'The sentence reflects the severity, enormity and seriousness of the offences committed by this dangerous paedophile.