A FATHER picked up the wrong digital camera by mistake and found himself looking at images of his young son being sexually abused, a court heard.

Paul Goulding had set the camera up to film himself having simulated sex with the eight-year-old boy, who had been left in his care one day in May last year.

But the shock discovery by the youngster's father led to his arrest, not only for indecent assault, but for making a series of "disgusting" pictures of children.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that the boy and his mother and father had been visiting Goulding and his parents at the end of May, and he had been left in charge of the children while they went out.

On the return of the two sets of parents, the boy's father, who owned a similar digital camera, was mistakenly handed Goulding's camera.

Thinking it was his own, he looked at the images and was horrified at what he saw.

Andrew Forsyth, prosecuting, said the man excused himself from the rest of the group and spoke to his wife. The couple then spoke to their son and the family left the house immediately.

Back home, they contacted police and Goulding was arrested.

His computer equipment and some CD-Roms were seized. The camera was also recovered but it had been wiped clean.

In all, said Mr Forsyth, 2,280 still images and 76 video clips were found, all of young boys being severely abused. "Some of them can only be described as horrific," he added.

Goulding, 22, of Tritton Fields, Kennington, Ashford, was said to have one previous conviction dating back to 1999, for indecently assaulting a boy.

His lawyer, Mark Dacey, asked that consideration be given to a sentence other than custody.

"He is a vulnerable young man and during his time in prison he would be influenced by others in prison," he said.

But Judge Keith Simpson told Goulding: "The court is in a different position from defence counsel. The court has a duty to look at the picture in the round, including the public perception and how these cases are viewed."

Many of the pictures that had been downloaded on to the defendant's computer were at the higher levels of seriousness, said the judge.

"They were perfectly disgusting."

He added: "As long as there

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