A PAEDOPHILE who lives the life of a “hermit and loner” received a suspended jail sentence after being found with more than 150 illegal videos of children.

Anthony Kendall, 40, of Silverdale Road, Eastbourne, was sentenced yesterday to eighteen months in prison suspended for two years and will have to undertake 25 days of rehabilitation activity.

Recorder Tom Nicholson-Pratt told Lewes Crown Court he had only suspended the custodial sentence “with some hesitation”, partly in light of Kendall’s mental health problems and the perceived low risk of him re-offending or harming children.

He said he had considered adding a community service order, on the grounds that imposing a curfew would not impinge on the lifestyle of a man who “by his own admission lived the life of a loner and a hermit”.

Jennifer Grey, prosecuting, told the court that Sussex Police had been informed that between March and May 2014 an internet address associated with Kendall’s laptop had made indecent images of children available on a file sharing website.

Investigations led to the arrest of Kendall at his mother’s house in Eastbourne.

A forensic examination of his laptop unearthed 95 videos considered category A (featuring the sexual penetration of a child under 18) 45 category B videos (featuring the sexual touching of a child under 18) and 16 category C videos (containing explicit sexual video of a child under 18).

Kendall pleaded guilty on January 26 to three charges of making indecent images of children.

In this context “making” means possessing – there is no suggestion he created the videos.

In mitigation, Kevin Light said Kendall suffered from anxiety and had not had a girlfriend or a job for more than 12 years.

He said: “He’s a man who only has one friend in the world, who he sees only infrequently.”

He pointed out the pre-sentencing report graded Kendall a low risk for either harm or recidivism, in part because of his lifestyle, adding that Kendall’s endless hours “stuck at home being bored having too much time on his hands” had led to him looking at “inappropriate things.”

Kendall was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and a notification order, each to last ten years.