A former head tennis coach at the Delta Tennis Centre in Swindonhad hundreds of vile images of children stored on two computers.
Philip Down had hundreds of pornographic pictures of young boys and girls being abused including a 23 minute movie.
And the 32-year-old also had a chat room conversation with an on line friend about raping a young boy.
But a judge at Swindon Crown Court passed a suspended prison sentence and ordered Down to go on a sex offenders’ programme.
Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told the court how officers found 506 indecent images of children on Down’s two computers.
He said the investigation started in 2002 after Down was questioned over another matter and the first set of images was found on his machine.
Because of the backlog of similar cases the results of the investigation were not revealed until last year when more pictures were found on a second computer.
Mr Meeke said a total of 506 indecent pictures or movies of children were found including 24 in the most serious categories.
He added: “There were also graphic and distressingly detailed e-mails. It is clear that the defendant engaged in a sexually explicit conversation with a correspondent over the internet during which the possibility of forceful sodomy of a 12-year-old boy was discussed.”
Down, of Chesterfield Close, Westlea, Swindon, pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of children and two of possession. He worked at the Delta centre between 2001 and 2003, when he moved to a club in Chippenham.
Claire Marlow, defending, said that although the e-mail conversation was not illegal her client insisted that he was not advocating the rape of a child.
She said it was part of the other person’s fantasy and not something he wanted to be involved in.
Down was now self employed in a catalogue business which involved distributing material to addresses across town.
But in the past she said he had worked with children as a tennis coach and there had been no complaints about his conduct.
Were he jailed for the offence she said he would only serve a couple of months and be released without any help so a sexual offenders programme would be better way of reducing the risk of his re-offending.
She also accepted that he should be subject to a sex offenders’ prevention order which restricted his liberty.
Passing sentence Judge Tom Longbotham said: “These are real children being abused by adults. They don’t want to be there but they are there and your offending perpetuates this abuse.”
As well as a six month jail term suspended for two years with the condition he goes on a sex offender programme he will also have to register as a sex offender for seven years.
The sexual offenders’ prevention order prohibits him from approaching anyone under 16, working with children or staying at a house with children other than his sister’s home.
