A PAEDOPHILE with a history of sexual “demons” who had a job working with children in Oxfordshire has been jailed for downloading thousands of pornographic pictures.

Michael Jay-Stone was employed by Oxfordshire County Council as a youth support worker, despite fantasising about children.

The 28-year-old admitted downloading 12,074 indecent pictures and video clips of children aged between 18 months and 14 years old. from the Internet.

He was jailed for 12 months at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

Jonathan Stone, prosecuting, said police found the images when they raided Jay-Stone’s home in Abingdon Road, Oxford, in April last year.

He said: “The defendant was working with children at the time these offences were committed.”

He said 409 of the images were at the most graphic level.

Jay-Stone, who now lives at Wingfield Close, Tiverton, Devon, admitted eight charges of making indecent images of children between November 2006 and April last year.

Peter Coombe, defending, said: “There’s no suggestion he has behaved inappropriately with any child at all, in fact conversely – it reinforces his claim he would never do so.”

“This is a man who has been wrestling with his demons for many years. He has not waited to be caught and convicted to suddenly claim he wants help.

“He has plainly been trying his utmost to fight and tackle the issues in his head.

“In the 1990s he sought help from various agencies to try to tackle the various sexual problems that he had. He has long felt guilt and shame for the fantasies that he has had.”

Mr Coombe said Jay-Stone might have psychological problems, which led him to turn to drink and drugs and make an attempt to take his life. He added: “He understands his career is probably well and truly shattered. Just as he was about to make a breakthrough in his music career was when all this came to light.”

Judge Julian Hall jailed Jay-Stone for 12 months, ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years and banned him indefinitely from using encryption or deletion software, working unsupervised with children and approaching children intending to form a personal relationship.

He also ordered Jay-Stone to allow police to examine his computer at any time.

Judge Hall said: “There is always a fear that this type of offence may lead to positive actual sexual offending in person but I haven’t detected a hint of it in this case.

“One of the real problems of dealing with someone like yourself is that the process of trying to reform you is a long one.”

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesman said Jay-Stone was employed as a youth support worker between 2002 and 2003.

He said: “There is no suggestion that Mr Jay-Stone used county council equipment to download indecent images of children.”

A police spokesman said officers were told Jay-Stone was also working as a youth worker in the county at the time he committed the offences, but could not confirm who he was employed by.