A pervert already on the sex offenders' register for downloading child porn was found to have collected more than 10,000 images of children being abused after trawling the internet.

A pervert already on the sex offenders' register for downloading child porn was found to have collected more than 10,000 images of children being abused after trawling the internet.

The images were discovered after Norfolk police raided Anthony Parsons's home after becoming suspicious he might be using the internet to access child porn after visiting his address in Paston, near Cromer, as a routine check on him as a registered sex offender, Norwich Crown Court heard.

When his address was searched in March this year a collection of a quarter-of-a-million porn images were found - more than 10,000 of which featured child porn, with some of the worst featuring images of sadism.

William Carter, prosecuting, said there were also a number of magazines featuring young girls and two holdalls containing girls' knickers for children aged two to three.

Parsons, 55, also had in his collection Brownie uniforms, tartan school dresses and a grey gym slip. Mr Carter said on Parsons's bed there was rope attached to leather straps on the corner of his bed posts.

Mr Carter said police also discovered a notebook which contained in “harrowing detail” an account of the rape of a 20-month-old baby and her seven-year -old sister.

The court heard that in April 2001 Parsons had been jailed for nine months for downloading child porn and had been placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Parsons, of Chapel Road, Paston, admitted 24 counts of possessing child porn.

Judge Paul Downes adjourned sentence for psychiatric reports for four weeks to assess what danger Parsons posed to the public, particularly to young children.

He warned him the court viewed the matter “very seriously.”

He also banned Parsons from working with children for life and made an interim order banning him from living or having unsupervised contact with children and having any employment which might bring him into contact with children.

Matthew McNiff, mitigating, said: “There is no evidence of distribution.”

He said that Parsons was keen to take part in a sex offender's treatment programme but was unable to start until he was sentenced by the court.

After the hearing Norfolk police said the case illustrated how the sex offenders' register allowed them to monitor sex offenders like Parsons.

Police spokesman Kristina Fox said: “Prior to the sex offenders' register being in place we had no means of monitoring or keeping track of convicted sex offenders.

“This case clearly shows how we monitor and risk assess those on the sex offenders' register which allows us to pick up on any causes of concern and take action at an early stage.”