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A sickened judge has blasted sentencing guidelines which prevented him from locking up a paedophile found with a monstrous hoard of child abuse videos and images.

Police discovered the vile videos and images on a disk and memory stick owned by Kira Leverton on November 15 last year.

When arrested, Leverton, of Stone Hill, East Stoke, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, near Yeovil, told police "It's a girl thing. I like them ages six and up."

Prosecuting, Virginia Cornwall told Taunton Crown Court: "She co-operated fully with police, telling them she looked at the images and movies for sexual gratification. She said she was not interested in very young children, but that 11 and 12 year olds 'hit the mark'."

Police discovered 144 category A images, 44 category A movies, 203 category B pictures and 13 images, and 153 category C photos and two movies.

They also found seven images of extreme pornography, 425 prohibited images of children and one movie.

A peer-to-peer file sharing programme installed on her computer showed she had made a number of searches including 'pre-teen hardcore', 'incest' and 'paedo' as well as 'infantile' and 'baby'.

Defending, Patrick Mason said Leverton's circumstances were 'unusual', having been born a man but now legally recognised as female.

"She accepts responsibility for what she ha done and co-operated with the police," he said.

"This happened during an emotionally stressful time on her life."

He explained her transition from male to female, saying that she was awaiting surgery to complete the change and said: "If she is sentenced to imprisonment you can imagine the problems that could cause. Prison is not geared up to cope with people in her position.

"It would damage her emotional well-being."

Sentencing, Judge David Ticehurst told Leverton: "Going to prison will damage you emotional well-being? What about the emotional well-being of of the children you have watched being abused?"

"Were it not for people like you, then children would not be abused. Those children suffer physical and psychological harm that will last a lifetime.

"It is bizarre that you find that pleasurable."

He added: "The guidelines tell me that after a trial, the maximum I could sentence you to would be 12 months in prison. Because of your guilty plea, I have to lower that to eight months.

"If you were imprisoned, you would serve only half of that before being released on license. You would be behind bars for only four months.

"That is a waste of time."

Instead he handed her a two year community order, and told Leverton she must engage in 40 days rehabilitation activities. She was also made the subject of a sexual harm probation order and made to sign the sexual offenders register for five years.

Following the sentencing, an NSPCC spokesman for South West England said: "The offences committed by Leverton were extremely serious.

"The youngsters in these pictures and videos, many of which fell into the most serious category of offending, are the victims of child abuse and the horrific experiences they endured for the images to be created should not be underestimated.

"The sexual harm prevention order and treatment programme imposed in this case must be policed and carried out effectively to aid Leverton's rehabilitation and to prevent any repeat of this appalling behaviour.

"Authorities and internet providers must do more to cut off the supply of these images and preventative approaches must also be developed to deter people from viewing this content in the first place."