A MAN who downloaded indecent images of children for 10 years has been ordered to attend a rehabilitation course.

When police raided Stephen Cawley’s home, they found his computer contained 31 pornographic films of youngsters, including five in the most serious category.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that, when officers arrived on April 12, he readily admitted having the images, saying: “I’ll show you where they are.”

The 53-year-old said he had been downloading the images and had been doing so for a decade.

He had deleted them and had deletion software, said Ben Jones, prosecuting.

Cawley, of Manchester Road, Leigh, pleaded guilty to possessing 31 indecent images and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

A judge imposed a three-year community order with attendance on the stringent Northumbria sex offenders’ programme.

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for five years and given a sex offences prevention order restricting his internet use for seven years.

Andrew McInnes, defending, said Cawley, who has never been in trouble before, has taken steps to address his issues.

He has been married for 15 years and his wife is standing by him.