Police who raided the home of a Wallasey child molester found he had a stash of extreme porn.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that 27-year-old John Evans was arrested after a girl told her mother he had touched her inappropriately.

When officers went to Evans’ home in Clarendon Road, they seized three computers. When the machines were analysed a large collection of explicit movies was revealed. One contained illegal material.

When interviewed, Evans said he did not believe the films, downloaded in April and May 2009, were illegal.

Teresa Loftus, prosecuting, told the court that Evans would have been “entirely right” except for a new law, introduced in January 2009.

Evans denied molesting the six-year-old girl but later pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her on the basis it had only happened once on February 12 or 13 last year.

He also admitted two offences of possessing extreme pornography.

Jailing him for 20 months, Judge Nigel Gilmour QC said, “I have no doubt that although the child did not suffer physical injury, the child did suffer some mental disturbance for a period of some months.

“It is inevitable when a child is abused in this way that the child has to be asked by police and social services questions which prolong the distress that that child feels.”

He added that a victim impact statement revealed the girl’s mother had also “suffered enormously from this nasty assault coming to light”.

He ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for ten years and imposed a Sexual Offenders’ Prevention Order, also for ten years.

Paul Wood, defending, said Evans was “deeply ashamed and remorseful” and accepted his actions would “stop her trusting men”.