Paedophile had 200,000 sex pictures

A paedophile who amassed more than 200,000 computer images and thousands of videos of children being sexually abused was sent to jail indefinitely yesterday.

Christopher Stubbings, 55, was told he must serve at least 12 years and six months. While being interviewed by Staffordshire police, Stubbings told them: "You know what men are like. Some choose to collect stamps. I choose to collect images of children."

Stubbings was arrested after a two-year investigation involving the FBI and detectives in Australia. He admitted eight offences, including indecent assaults on a child under 16 and commissioning child abuse videos. He was also found guilty of possessing and distributing images of child abuse.

Mrs Justice Macur, passing sentence at Stafford Crown Court, said that Stubbings had "an inability to show remorse, contrition or empathy". She added: "[The images] were deplorable and depraved – these children were abused, all of them debased, all of them humiliated."

The court heard that Stubbings, of Kings Bromley, Staffordshire, was the co-founder and treasurer of a global paedophile network with 60 members.