A PAEDOPHILE who shared child abuse pictures while he was on a sex offender rehabilitation programme has been jailed for more than three years.

Richard Blight carried on offending just weeks after he was handed a suspended prison sentence last December for hoarding more than 1,000 indecent images.

Although jailed, Gwent Police refused to release a picture of the defendant.

The 58-year-old from Monmouthshire carried on looking at child sex abuse images and was later caught sending on category A and category C images to other paedophiles.

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He shared them after being released under investigation by Gwent Police on suspicion of having hundreds of child abuse pictures following a raid on his home in January.

Officers had seized a mobile phone and laptop following a tip-off and later found indecent films and pictures of children on those two devices after they were examined.

There were category A, the most serious kind, category B and category C images.

Blight was at the time undergoing the sex offender rehabilitation programme as part of his punishment and was described as an “enthusiastic” member of the course.

Judge Jeremy Jenkins told Blight: “You were secretly behind their backs continuing with your offending.”

The defendant was described in Cardiff Crown Court as “displaying a continued sexual interest in children”.

He admitted two counts of distributing indecent images of children and also pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

The offences were committed between January and May.

Stephen Thomas, representing Blight, said his client had been “a participant and not an organiser” in the sharing of the images among other paedophiles.

His barrister added that an immediate prison sentence was inevitable and asked the court to pass the shortest term possible in line with the defendant’s guilty pleas.

Blight, of Glendower Street, Monmouth, was jailed for three years and two months and ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention until further notice.

After the hearing, a spokesperson for NSPCC Cymru/Wales said: “Blight had hoarded and was also sharing online images and videos of some of the most horrendous content imaginable.

“In doing so he was helping to fuel a sordid trade that directly relies on the sexual abuse of children.

“This terrible case once again highlights the need for the UK Government to deliver a robust Online Safety Bill without delay to better disrupt the way offenders use the web in this appalling industry.”