A man who ran a website showing sexual abuse of a teenage girl has been given a 13-year prison sentence for child sex offences.

Richard Hunt, 47, unemployed, of Collington Avenue, Bexhill, appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to a total of 14 offences including facilitating child pornography,attempting to arrange a child sex offence and distribution of indecent images of children. 

He was sentenced to a total of 13 years imprisonment with an extended licence supervision requirement of two years after release. He will not be eligible to be considered for parole for at least eight years.

He will also be subject to Sex Offender Registration for life and was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to children and use of computers.

He was also issued with a Sex Offender Travel Order banning his travel out of the UK for a period of five years after release.

In sentencing Judge Paul Tain describing the case said "these are the most repellent examples of degrading behaviour towards children that a judge could hope to see”.

The prosecution followed an intelligence-led investigation by the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) of Sussex Police.

The officer in the case DC Martin Harmer said: "The investigation into Hunt originated from intelligence found on the computer of a US suspect. The intelligence indicated that Hunt had exchanged indecent images of children with that suspect.

"We executed a search warrant at his home address in June 2012 and Hunt was arrested and interviewed.

"The forensic examination of his computer equipment and online accounts identified that Hunt possessed over 10,000 indecent images of children and was exchanging these with a large number of people online. He also engaged in extensive chat with others in which he encouraged them to sexually abuse and photograph children known to them.

"One of the abused children was identified by our team as a German national. It transpires that Hunt was instrumental in running a website dedicated to the horrific sexual abuse of this girl at the hands of a family friend there for some 10 years from the age of approximately 10. The website charged for images of the girl and Hunt managed the payment and administration of the site.

"Hunt initially refused to accept a number of the charges and so the German victim was faced with the fear of having to attend a foreign court to give evidence. Thankfully he changed his plea on the first day of trial, avoiding her additional distress."