This is Exeter -- A pensioner has been jailed for 19 years after internet child abuse images led him to filming his own sex attacks on five young girls. Retired lorry driver John Bidmead was also found with more than a million child abuse images on his computer and his case is the worst of its sort ever investigated by police in the South West. His ten-year-long trail of sexual assaults only came to light when Interpol tipped off police about him downloading extreme child pornography and detectives raided his home in Cullompton. They caught him red-handed as he watched a child abuse movie which was being streamed via his computer onto a 50 inch television. Officers were horrified to find not only the largest library of indecent images they had ever seen but a computer file containing 124 home made movies showing him raping and abusing a child. The seized a number of computers and discovered 1,500 more files containing images made by him of four more girls, some showing him touching them. He paid some of the victims to pose for photographs and bribed others with sweets of treats while he was baby sitting. There were so many images and movies that police were not able to count them all. They gave up at 600,000 but estimate there are well over a million in all. The Judge described the number of images and movies as staggering and praised the police team who had the 'debilitating' task of sifting through them and creating a schedule of what they showed. The grandfather remained silent with head bowed as he was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court but the Judge was told he is so ashamed of what he did that he wanted to die in prison. He sent the Judge a letter which he said he was unable to sign because he was so ashamed of the disgrace he had brought to his family that he could not bear to write his own name. Bidmead, aged 65, of Cullompton, Devon, admitted four rapes, six indecent or sexual assaults, and 19 counts of taking or making indecent photographs. He was only charged with the images which police were able to count before they gave up. These were made up as follows. He had: 576,288 images and 8,071 movies showing naked children. 6,007 images and 1,289 movies showing children engaged in less serious sexual activity. 28,888 images and 1,235 movies showing adults having sex with children. 19,297 images and 3,480 movies showing child rape. 1,450 images and 167 movies showing sadism, torture or bestiality. He was jailed for 19 years by Judge Phillip Wassall, who told him:"The magnitude of the number of images is quite staggering. The schedule makes quite appalling reading. "You had more than a million images of children being abused including significantly high numbers of images of the worst type of abuse. "That was only a fraction because an analysis of your computer showed images of you raping and abusing a child. It appears your exposure to pornography caused you to look at children differently. "The images tell their own story and provide the most graphic and appalling evidence of what you had done." Mr Richard Crabb, prosecuting, said Bidmead's home was raided by police after they were tipped off by colleagues in Russia about him downloading extreme images. He said:"Police visited his property and the first thing they noticed was a 50 inch television monitor showing video images of child abuse which were being downloaded onto his computer. "A search was carried out and 40 items including computers were seized. Bidmead was arrested and he replied 'I'm bang to rights'." An examination of the material showed a computer folder named 'visits' which 124 movies showing him abusing the same girl, who appeared to be aged eight or nine. She was traced and revealed how she had been groomed into taking part in role playing games in which all forms of sexual activity took place and was filmed. She made a victim impact statement in which she said:"I now find it difficult to trust people and I feel upset angry and confused." When asked how he persuaded the girl to have sex with him he replied:"A child's innocence, I suppose." Mr Crabb said other images or films showed four more girls, all aged eight to 12, who had been photographed naked or touched by Bidmead. Only three were traced and they told how he persuaded them to pose for what he called 'photo-shoots' in which he paid them more if they stripped naked. Mr Crabb said:"In addition, there was a vast amount of child pornography, much of which still has not been viewed. The best estimate is that the total exceeds a million and is certainly the largest find in this part of the world." Mr Sean Brunton, defending, said:"He is ashamed and remorseful and says he expects to die in prison and it would be a fitting punishment for what he has done. "He says he expects and would welcome a very long sentence which will represent the fact that he has destroyed the lives of several people and in the process destroyed his own life."
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