A SEX offender who was part of a network where indecent images of children were shared has walked free from court.

Police officers found at least 116 indecent photographs of children aged as young as nine when they visited Matthew McDonnell’s property in Colchester.

Ipswich Crown Court heard how the 54-year-old had pictures of preteens aged between nine and 12 downloaded on to discs, which he would later share with others on the online network Chatstep.

But Judge David Pugh said evidence presented to the court by the Crown Prosecution Service was not good enough and it meant McDonnell, now of High Street, Great Oakley, was allowed to walk free with just a community order imposed upon him.

During yesterday’s sentencing, Simon Connelly, prosecuting, explained McDonnell first came across images of children on MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger in 2015.

Some of the images, which ranged from the most serious Category A to Category C, included pre-teens only wearing underwear, while others pictured them naked.

When asked if any of the content involved sexual acts, McDonnell, a delivery driver, told the police “maybe”.

Between November 1 and 23, 2016, the 54-year-old created a fake profile on Chatstep going by the name of Maisie, a name he referred to himself when cross-dressing, and began to share the images.

Mr Connelly added McDonnell downloaded all content on to discs as part of a sickening collection which “sexually gratified” him including two images which involved children and bestiality.

McDonnell admitted four counts of possession of indecent images of a child and one count of possession with a view to distribute the images.

Folashade Abiodun, mitigating, said her client had been “as open and honest as he can be” and was “deeply remorseful”.

Sentencing McDonnell, Judge Pugh said he was concerned at the lack of evidence given to him by the Crown Prosecution Service and suggested he had his hands tied when sentencing.

Addressing the defendant, he said: “Your behaviour was disgraceful and you should be ashamed of it because the children who appear in these images are abused because of people like you looking at them.”

McDonnell must undertake 35 days of rehabilitation, 120 hours of unpaid work and complete an accredited programme.