A PEADOPHILE has been jailed for nine years after new technology exposed his lies.

Lee Matthews, 32, of Howard Close, Hailsham, is thought to be the first person convicted using the technology that accurately matches images with the device that made them.

Matthews initially denied one count of taking indecent videos on his mobile phone and one of sexual activity with a child, but confessed when he was shown evidence from his mobile phone.

He admitted 20 offences at Hove Crown Court in April this year and was due to stand trial in June over the other two offences.

He was jailed at Hove Crown Court yesterday to a total of 22 sex offences, including eleven involving a young girl.

Richard Leary, whose Birmingham-based company Forensic Pathways Ltd created the patented technology, said: “We applaud Sussex Police because they set out to discover whether or not a technology of this kind existed, so they came to us saying, ‘Can you help?’ “We were not ready to release it to the world at that point, but because it was such a serious case we decided to bring forward the launch.”

Police received a tip-off at the start of April last year that Matthews was exchanging indecent images of children online and planning to abuse a young girl.

Officers searched his address, seized his laptop and mobile phones and arrested him.

Detective Constable Chris Smith, from Sussex Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said the technology “provides law enforcement with an extra option to help detect offences of any kind in which the source of digital imagery is an issue”.

He said: “We would also like to pay tribute to the young victim who showed courage in supporting the prosecution.”

Three other charges against Matthews, one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and two of sexual activity with a child, were ordered to remain on the court file.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life and was served with a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.