'You are lucky today' - What judge told Hartlepool computer whiz kid with perverted interest in child sex

The Hartlepool teenager, who was 16 at the time, covered his tracks by using aliases to trawl four social media and child porn sites and deleted his searches to hide his activities for six months.

But his worried mother turned him in when she discovered his sordid secrets, Teesside Crown Court was told.

The youngster, whose use of the Internet was described as "extensive and highly sophisticated", was being intensely watched after being convicted earlier of child porn and extreme pornography offences.

He had been given a five-year ban on contacting under 18-year-olds under a Sexual Offences Prevention Order

But his lawyer said that the restriction prohibited him from more schooling or mixing with youngsters his own age.

He was left isolated between adolescence and adulthood, said Stephen Constantine, in mitigation.

On his latest appearance, he admitted contacting children online, possessing indecent images of children and breaching the Sexual Offences Prevention Order over a six-month period.

Recorder Aisha Wadoodi told him she was satisfied that “you knew what you were doing”.

She added "You are lucky today that you are not going to prison and you must understand that.

"You are not being sent to prison because of your age. That will no longer be a relevant factor.

"If your offending manager now sees that you are trying to bypass anything you will go to prison."

He was sentenced to five months youth custody suspended for 12 months with 30 days Rehabilitation Activities Requirements