A 23-year-old man has been jailed for 14 months for distributing and possession of indecent images of children.

James Owen Mullen from Bradbourne Way, Maidstone pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to 17 offences and one charge of obscene communications.

Kent Police arrested Mullen in November 2008, following intelligence received from America that stated a person using an internet address in Maidstone was engaged in internet chat and indecent images of children.

Senior investigating officer DS Dave Shipley said: "Mullen compiled a sickening collection of indecent images and movies of children.

"He then made and sent a number of extremely distressing and disturbing messages to a woman whom he had never met, detailing the abuse of a young child.

"People who collect and distribute child abuse images add to the demand for new images to be created and therefore more children become victims. The Public Protection Crime Unit at Kent Police has removed another serious offender from the community and put him before the courts."

Upon sentencing Judge Statman said: "You were the adult, you had the ability to choose to press the button on your computer to download and distribute these images"

A search of the property in Maidstone was carried out and his computer was seized. Following examination by Kent Police's Digital Forensic Unit, 379 indecent images of children were found.

Mullen denied having a sexual interest in children but claimed he had the images in order to 'flush out' paedophiles and claimed he reported them to an internet service provider.

No evidence of Mullen ever having made such a report was ever found.

He admitted that he never reported the images to the police.

He was first arrested on November 24, 2008, but during the course of the police investigation new evidence was found that led to his further arrest on May 28, 2009 at his home in Brabourne Way. He was then charged with the offences and remanded in custody.

Mullen was charged with sending an obscene telecommunication, following a call from a member of the public who had received offensive MMS and SMS messages from Mullen.

The messages were sent to a woman he contacted through a television dating site. In them, Mullen expressed his sexual fantasies that included a description of abuse against a 'fantasy niece'.

Kent Police obtained voice messages sent from Mullen's phone during which he pretended to abuse a child. The messages were so disturbing the recipient of the messages believed them to be true and reported Mullen to police.

The remaining charges relate to child abuse images he had collected and distributed to others on the internet.

He admitted to police that he knew his behaviour was wrong but claimed it was an addiction.

Detective Superintendent Paul Fotheringham said: "Kent Police remains determined to seek out those individuals who abuse children and are engaged in child abuse image offences. We are committed to identifying offenders and bringing them before the courts.

"There is no excuse for viewing, downloading or searching for images of children suffering abuse. These are images of real children where a child is suffering real abuse and we will continue to work, together with partner agencies, including CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre), to stop this horrific crime."

Anyone who has information on this type of crime can ring Kent Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 and anyone who is involved in this type of crime and wants to stop can visit the website stopitnow.org.