To his friends, family and work pals, likeable Luke Silk was regarded as hardworking, a willing helper and a man with “good morals”.

But in his bedroom, the 23-year-old supermarket assistant hid a perverted secret.

There at his home in Greenhill, Herne Bay, he downloaded vile images of child sex and took part in sick role-play games involving a child’s dummy and girl’s underwear.

Silk, of Rowland Drive, wept throughout his sentencing hearing at Canterbury Crown Court as a Crown Prosecution lawyer revealed details of his twisted cravings.

Prosecutor Bridget Todd told how police began the hunt for a person downloading movies and images from a file-sharing website.

Officers traced the IP address to a computer at Silk’s home – and there they discovered hundreds of sick images which had been accessed.

Ms Todd said the child-sex images including some of the very worst level Five.

Silk, who pleaded guilty to six charges of downloading the illegal images, later told police he had started looking at adult porn.

He then started downloading child-sex images which he claimed he found “disgusting”.

But Ms Todd added: “He said he deleted them but for some reason decided to re-visit the sites. He said he received no sexual gratification from looking at them.

“He also said he used adult chatrooms for adult role play.

"Items which were found in his bedroom included a dummy and a pair of child’s underwear, which he said he bought in order to conduct a role-play game over the Internet.”

His barrister Simon Taylor said Silk blamed part of his problem on “suffering a significant trauma in childhood” which had resulted in his “warped thinking”.

“He is a hard-working young man and is a carer for his mother who suffers from agoraphobia.”

Judge Heather Norton suspended a 10-month jail sentence for two years and ordered him to undergo treatment for his perversion.

She told him that there were “two sides to you”, adding: “One side you show to the public, to your family and friends and those who work with you.

"All of those character references, which I have read, talk of your good nature, your hard work, and your willingness to help other people.

“On more than one occasion people have referred to your good morals.

“But those good morals are not those which came out during this investigation.

“The films you downloaded aren’t just films, they are not just fantasy, not just make-believe. These were (films of) children in real life and people like you permit this to happen.”

Silk was made subject to a Sex Offender’s Prevention Order, which means he must make any computer available for inspection by police officers for the next 10 years.