A MAN who was found with hundreds of indecent photographs of children when police searched his address at Chard has been sent to Taunton Crown Court to be sentenced.

Jack Oaten was tracked down by online investigators who discovered he had been downloading pornographic images on his laptop and mobile phone.

When both devices were analysed they found several hundred images covering all categories of seriousness, Somerset Magistrates were told.

Oaten, 21, of currently of no fixed address, appeared in the dock before Somerset Magistrates at Yeovil.

He pleaded guilty that between January 7, 2014 and February 4, 2015 at Chard he made indecent photographs of children.

He also admitted a second similar charge between December 1, 2014 and February 24, 2015.

At a previous court hearing prosecutor Julyan Stephens said that the police were made aware by investigators at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection organisation (CEOP) of an email address linked to the defendant which had been involved in obtaining pornographic images of children.

“As a result police carried out a search of Oaten’s address in Chard where he was living at the time and seized a laptop and mobile phone,” he said.

They were analysed for individual images and on one device they found 93 images and movies in the most serious Category A; 42 in Category B and 21 in Category C.

On the second device they discovered five in Category A; eight in Category B sand 173 in Category C.

The matters had been adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service but when the case was before the court again the magistrates said it was so serious that Oaten must be sent to the crown court to be sentenced.

They adjourned the case until September 30 when the defendant was ordered to appear before a judge at Taunton and in the meantime was given unconditional bail.