A paedophile from Eastbourne who fantasised about having sex with young girls was today starting a one-year jail term.

Gordon Nickson, 64, was imprisoned after pleading guilty to 17 counts of making indecent pictures and five counts of distributing them.

He was charged after police raided his home in Sorrel Drive in April.

Computer equipment was seized and a cache of pictures with young girls involved in sex acts was found.

Nickson admitted distributing and storing the images and told police he dreamed of having sex with young girls.

Hove Crown Court heard yesterday how he sent the obscene pictures via email to other paedophiles.

His sentence was today welcomed by police and child welfare groups, who said people like Nickson fuel the child porn industry over the internet.

A spokesman for the NSPCC said: "Many of the children who are forced into such humiliating acts are victims for life.

"They can carry the scars of their abuse well into adulthood, destroying not only their own lives but those of people they care about.

"Child porn is never a victimless crime, although that is the attitude many paedophiles have to avoid feeling guilty about their crimes."

Police found a collage of 90 individual indecent pictures, plus hundreds more on computer discs when they raided Nickson's home.

Divorcee Nickson was taken for questioning to Eastbourne police station in Grove Road, where he admitted everything.

Walking with the aid of a stick, he appeared before Eastbourne magistrates on July 22 and pleaded guilty to the 17 counts of making indecent pictures and five counts of distributing them.

A force spokesman said: "All but a few children who feature in such pictures are scarred for life.

"Our officers have seen young people's lives totally wrecked by the effects of abuse during their formative years.

"It is a crime we are doing our utmost to stamp out."