“Depraved” Derbyshire paedophile caught with nearly 9,000 child sex images

Robert Reeve, 48, was caught with nearly 9,000 of the awful images – which showed children from the age of just a few months to eight years old being sexually abused.

Lauren Fisher, prosecuting, told the court one of the category A images showed a “very young child” being restrained “with a gag placed in her mouth”.

In another a child was photographed while being “duct taped” to a bed in tears.

One of the devices Reeve used had internet searches for “pre-teen models” and “kiddie sex”, the court heard.

Ms Fisher said Reeve’s Ripley home was first raided on November 16, 2020, when police were told his IP address was being used to upload indecent images.

While on bail for the first offence officers arrested him again at home on August 16, 2022, for the same offence and then a third time on March 8 this year.

The court heard Reeve, of Alfreton Road, Codnor, had no previous offences on his record.

Reeve’s barrister said her client, who had already been on remand for eight months, had “accepted” what he had done.

She said: “There appears to have been some denial for some time but he is waking up to the gravity of what he has done.”

Judge Shaun Smith KC told Reeve: “What you have admitted to is utterly depraved.

"I deal with a lot of images cases and none of them in recent times have sunk to the depths of what you were looking at.

"These really were images of the worst type – these are real children being abused for the satisfaction of people like you.

"You didn’t stop when police were onto you – you were cavalier to say the least.

“You didn’t appear to be bothered, you just did it again with another device. You just carried on.”

Reeve admitted multiple counts of making indecent photographs of children.

He was jailed for two years and nine months.