A convicted sex offender has been locked up after hundreds of thousands of indecent images of children were found on his devices.

Richard Faulkner, 70, was found with the child abuse images in January last year despite being the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Some of the content found on the pensioner’s devices included the most serious category.

Faulkner, who lives near Wouldham High Street, was banned from using any device capable of accessing the internet unless it had been installed with a web-monitoring programme.

Just seven months after the order was put in place, the police’s software flagged an alert in August for a computer Faulkner had registered which showed he had been accessing the illegal material.

Officers arrested the paedophile days later and carried out a search at his home.

Computers and other devices, which were not registered with the force, were seized from the property.

During an initial police interview Faulkner denied any wrongdoing, claiming he no longer had any sexual interest in children. He insisted he had no knowledge of how illegal images would be on his computer.

His lies were exposed when the device was later forensically examined, along with another hard drive, and hundreds of thousands of illegal images were detected.

More than 160 photos and videos uncovered were of the most serious category.

Faulkner pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to multiple counts relating to making indecent images of children, and for breaching the SHPO.

He also admitted failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements, having not registered a number of bank and credit cards with police.

On Tuesday (Feb 4), Faulkner was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. This included the activation of a previous suspended sentence.

Sergeant Steph Kirkin said: “Faulkner had been the subject of strict measures designed to reduce the risk of him reoffending.

“He attempted to manipulate the monitoring software placed on his computer, in attempts to disguise the fact he was frequently seeking access to disturbing and harmful images, many of which include the horrific abuse of children.

“Sexual harm prevention orders are passed by the courts to help protect children and as this case shows, we will do everything we can to ensure those who ignore them face the consequences of their actions.”