A 19-YEAR-old man has been banned from owning any camera after being found guilty of having indecent images of children.

Nathan Harrington, from Benfleet. pleaded guilty to four charges of possessing indecent images.

The first count involved making Category A stills – two indecent images of a child of a sexual nature.

Two other counts showed Mr Harrington possessing indecent images, known as Category C.

A final count showed Mr Harrington had distributed a Category C picture of a female child to a website.

A Southend Magistrates’ Court hearing saw him issued a community order whereby Mr Harrington will have to complete a 35-day Internet Sexual Offending Treatment Programme.

It adds to him having to carry out up to 60 hours of further rehabilitation requirements and up to 150 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months.

He is also banned from owning a camera or device capable of capturing digital images and must not use a device capable of accessing the internet, unless it can retain internet search history.

Mr Harrington has also been banned from having unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16.

He has also been ordered to pay £85 to fund victim services and £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

David Cross, Tory councillor for St Mary’s, paid tribute to the work of the police in tackling the issue.

He said: “There seems to be special teams set up now to deal with these kinds of incidents.

“We are hearing more and more about these kinds of incidents, so the people who are carrying these offences out are being found. It’s a terrible world we live in to think that some people are out there with these pictures of children.

“Thankfully the court has acted and he won’t be a danger to society.”