A PERVERT who hoarded child abuse images so graphic a judge had to give a public health warning before they were described in court is now behind bars.

Johnstone man Jamie Sharp – deemed to be a “high risk” of sexual offending – was slammed by a sheriff for his actions after he was caught with pictures and videos of babies and nursery-aged children being raped.

Sharp’s shocking cache of files included pictures of children who had been bound by the legs or handcuffed.

In some images they were still wearing nappies and he would view the vile content when his mum and partner were sleeping or out at work.

Computing experts also discovered he had searched for “young real schoolgirls flashing in uniform” and “pre-teen” in his quest to satisfy his warped sexual desires.

Sharp, 39, was yesterday handed a two-year jail sentence and made the subject of a strict Sexual Offences Prevention Order which limits his internet use and bans him from having contact with children.

He has also been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Sharp admitted his guilt at Paisley Sheriff Court in May, pleading guilty to downloading and possessing child abuse images at the home he shared with his partner in High Street, Johnstone, on January 31 last year.

Before the facts of the case were narrated, Sheriff Colin Pettigrew warned members of the public they may wish to leave the courtroom due to what they were about to hear.

He added: “I am simply giving a public notice of matters which may be found to be distressing by certain members of the public.”

People present said they were disgusted by what they had heard, some felt physically sick and one man, who has a daughter the same age as one of the girls being abused in one of the clips, said he nearly fainted as the detail of that image was read out.

Procurator fiscal depute Fiona Holligan said police received information that an IP address had been used to access indecent images of children and a Sony mobile phone, a Compaq laptop, an Apple computer, a Cyclone Odyssey Tablet and a USB stick were seized and sent off for testing, revealing a total of 53 images had been viewed on the devices.

Mrs Holligan added: “Chat logs showed the user had an extreme sexual interest in children.”

Following the searches of the computer, Sharp was traced to a caravan park in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, where he was detained and interviewed.

Sentence had been deferred for background reports to be prepared and Sharp, who was spared jail in 2007 after being convicted of indecent behaviour towards a young girl and hoarding a previous cache of child abuse images, returned to the dock yesterday to learn his fate.

As he placed him on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years, made him the subject of a five-year-long Sexual Offences Prevention Order and jailed him for two years, reduced from two-and-a-half years as he admitted his guilt, Sheriff Pettigrew said “punishment, denunciation and general deterrence are paramount.”

He also pointed out the “age and vulnerability” of the children being abused in the files Sharp was caught with, adding: “Some of the ages are mind-boggling as to their youth. These are serious offences.”