Canterbury Crown Court, where Fabian's case was heard

by Paul Hooper

Twisted shop assistant Daniel Fabian has left court - branded a man with "an insatiable and warped appetite" for vile child sex films... and his mum's condemnation ringing in his ear.

But the 26-year-old pervert managed to avoid a jail sentence despite having a collection of depraved films that would take 72 hours to watch.

Fabian, of Osborne Road, Willesborough, had pleaded guilty to possessing the films involving children as young as four being raped – and another of a six-year-old boy involved in bondage.

His barrister told the court Fabian's mother – who sat in the public gallery at Canterbury Crown Court to hear the details of the films – "stands by him as his mother but condemns whole-heartedly what he has done!"

Mary Jacobson, prosecuting, said officers became aware of Fabian's activities on the internet and raided his home in May last year.

"He was downloading and storing child sex images for about a year and had searched for 'PTHC' – which stood for pre-teen hard core.

"When police arrived Fabian was in his upstairs bedroom where he had a computer and a large projector screen mounted on the wall and facing his bed," she added.

The court heard he had more than 400 films which he had downloaded from a file-sharing site and admitted he got sexual gratification from them.

One group of films lasted 19 hours and a second group, containing even more vile films, would have taken two days and four hours to watch.

Paul Green, defending, said Fabian quit his job at a shop because of the embarrassment caused by his arrest.

"they (the videos) were at the most depraved and disturbing end of the scale used by courts to categorise images" – judge simon james

"He said quite candidly and maybe with some insight that to start with he didn’t think of children as being victims. In time he now realises they are.

"That new insight is driven by his mother and it is through her condemnation he has insight into what those children have gone through," he added.

Mr Green said that although there was still a computer in the family home, Fabian has removed any passwords so "his mother can check the computer at any time".

Judge Simon James placed him on supervision for three years and ordered him to undergo treatment to tackle his sex offending after he admitted four child sex downloading charges.

He told him: "The moving images you downloaded depicting children being sexually abused were for your own sexual gratification and were extreme.

"They were at the most depraved and disturbing end of the scale used by courts to categorise images.

"It is all too easy when one looks at the cold classifications to lose sight of the appalling abuse they depict. Make no mistake about it, you and those who share your warped appetite bear a direct responsibility for the incalculable suffering caused to children."

But he said that despite his "apparent insatiable appetite" for viewing disgusting images he had made no attempt to act out his fantasies.

The judge said that although Fabian deserved a prison sentence, a 16-month jail term - which would meet current sentencing guidelines - would not be long enough for him to tackle his problem.

Fabian was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register, given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and told he cannot work with children.