A paedophile asked the probation service whether he could look at pictures of 18 and 19-year-old boys instead of younger teens.

Darren Ernest Clarence Roberts, 51, downloaded specialist deleting software to clear devices of any evidence of him searching for ‘gay teen porn’ just two days before his devices were checked by officers.

Burnley Crown Court was told that Roberts was placed on the sex offenders register in 1999, subjecting him to regular checks of his technology by police.

On January 21, 2020, police visited Roberts where they found 72 indecent images of children, some as young as four.

Many of the images were downloaded through cache files from Roberts visiting websites while two of the photos were downloaded and saved to the phone.

Roberts, from Blackburn, told police that he had not downloaded the images and that they were on the phone when he bought it from Cash Generator in Accrington, however, Recorder Nicholas Clarke QC said that he did not believe that a person would sell their phone without factory resetting it first.

Prosecuting, Neil Fryman said that Roberts, of Jay’s B and B, Bolton Road, failed to inform police that he had bought the new phone, breaking the requirements of his sexual harm prevention order with Roberts saying he did not think “it was relevant”.

Mr Fryman said: “Roberts said he spoke with his probation worker to ask whether he could download adult porn including teenage boys who said it would be okay.”

The probation service said that they recall Roberts asking but did not say it would be okay, trying to deter him from the searches.

Defending, Alison Whalley said that Roberts had two psychiatric reports in October and November and did not think that he was yet a danger to the community as he had not been contacting young boys and only downloading images.

She said: “He has completed a Kaizen course. Something that he is particularly proud of and he said; If I could turn the clock back knowing what I know now I would not have committed the offences and I am remorseful.”

Roberts' request for a suspended sentence was swiftly denied, with Mr Recorder Clarke saying that only a custodial sentence would be appropriate in this situation.

Roberts pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of an indecent photograph of a child and one charge of possession of an extreme pornographic image.

He was sentenced to two years in prison and will require post-release supervision.

Roberts was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years - however, he is already listed on the register for life.

He said: “You have an extensive criminal record specifically relating to offences involving children.

“Attempts have been made to rehabilitate you in the community to stop you offending in this way.

“It’s clear that you have continued to search for gay teen porn against the advice you have been given.

“It is clear that you have viewed some of the images online but also downloaded some of the images online in a purposeful act.”