AN INTERNET paedophile was caught following a tip-off by a US child protection organisation after he made indecent films of an American teenager he first befriended while playing popular video game Minecraft.

After police raided Gavin Whitbread’s Newport home it was discovered he had also downloaded images of young children being sexually abused – including one of a baby.

The 32-year-old, of Morden Road, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Prosecutor Laura Shepherd told Newport Crown Court how the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the USA warned the National Crime Agency in London about Whitbread’s offending with a 17-year-old girl from Arizona.

They in turn contacted Gwent Police who executed a search warrant at his home and they uncovered 77 indecent films and still images of children on his computer involving victims aged between one and 12.

Miss Shepherd said there were 25 category A images, which feature the most serious examples of child sexual abuse, 25 category B and 27 category C.

His offending with the American teenager took place over a two-month period before he blocked her on social media, the court was told.

Those films also included images which came under category A, B and C.

The judge, Recorder Catherine Richards, heard how Whitbread had already spent six weeks in custody prior to his sentencing.

The prosecutor said he had pleaded guilty at the earliest possible opportunity and had no previous convictions.

Gareth Williams, mitigating for his client, said with regard to the offences against the American girl: “The defendant was in some sort of internet relationship and he thought she was 18.”

He said Whitbread had come from “a difficult background” and had been placed in care when he was young.

His barrister added: “He has lived his life on the internet. His six weeks in custody have been a short, sharp shock for and the whole experience has been awful.

“I know he is disgusted by himself. He has said that he could do with some help.”

The judge told Whitbread that actions such as his added to the “torment and horror” suffered by sexually abused children.

She sentenced him to a three-year community order and he must attend the Horizon sex offender treatment programme.

The defendant was also made subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order and he must register as a sex offender for the same period of time.

He must also pay a victim surcharge and the judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of his computer.