A PAEDOPHILE has been locked up for four years after police found 59,000 messages trying to get children to engage in sex acts.

Over six years, Laurence Ives, 55, sent thousands of messages and video called at least one underage boy.

He admitted 16 counts of child sex offences from 2010 to 2016, including possessing indecent images, inciting children to perform sex acts and 11 counts of attempting to incite children.

Ives, of Western Road, Leigh, was jailed on Wednesday.

Prosecuting, Jamie Sawyer, told the court police raided Ives’ home on January 11, 2018 where they seized two iPhones, a laptop and an iPad.

He said: “There was extensive evidence of Skype calls and 59,000 messages, with messages to contacts and they were under 16 years of age, and he incited them to engage in sexual activity, and he tried to meet some of them.

“He sent indecent images to other users. He described sexual activity with children and future plans for children.

“Between 2011 and 2013 a Skype user was 15 years old but he still engages sexually with the child. The user had been experimenting with sexuality at the time, and confirmed he was 15-years-old at the time.”

Mr Sawyer said the prosecution had tracked down the 15-year-old who confirmed his age, plus another underage boy who had no memory of the conversations with Ives.

The other users that had been contacted could not be verified as real people, meaning the charges for those messages were put as attempts to incite children into sexual activity.

Mitigation for Ives said before the offending came to light he was of “positive good character” citing multiple references from friends and colleagues.

Ives has suffered a “catastrophic fall from grace” but he accepted responsibility for it.

Passing sentence, Judge Andrew Hurst told Ives: “You offered to pay him for sex, he was 15. He would have been a vulnerable person.

“These were children and you knew they were children.

“You understood that but it did not stop you. Children need to be protected and not exploited.”

Ives was jailed for four years and will be the subject of a sexual harm and prevention order.