A paedophile from Croydon was caught after posing as a 12-year-old girl to waste the time of other paedophiles.

Jonathan Wales, 33, of Violet Lane, Croydon posed as a girl called Jessica. He was traced when his details were found on the mobile of a former mormon bishop from Gravesend.

Prosecutor Lucy Luttman told Maidstone Crown Court on September 12 that Wales had previously been jailed on charges involving indecent images.

The court heard he was annoyed people were getting away with crimes he had been punished for, so he decided to waste the time of around 15 men.

Wales was found to have more than 1,000 indecent images of children on his laptop and a USB drive.

He admitted 38 charges of making, distributing and possessing indecent images. He was given a three-and-a-half-year jail term.

His details were found on the mobile of Gerald Tapp, 56, who was also sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail after police found more than 24,000 indecent images and 948 movie stills of children on a family computer.

He admitted 34 charges of making, distributing and possessing indecent images of children.

The court heard how Tapp had filmed up the skirts of schoolgirls at a school where he worked as a design technician and police had found video footage of children in Gravesend town centre.

Tapp handed himself in to police after his wife Jenny confronted him about his use of the internet.

She said Tapp was seen viewing porn sites and also having online conversations with a 12-year-old girl called ‘Jessica’.

Tapp, who was formerly a bishop in the Mormon church, had images and movies of children ranging from six months to 12 years old.

Alistair Keith, mitigating, said: “He accepts he must be punished.”

Judge Philip Statman told Tapp: “You had no understanding of what your victims had suffered.”

In a statement released by police, Mrs Tapp said: “It came as a great shock to me that my husband was involved in this activity, as I was totally unaware of his actions.

“Once I began to have suspicions, I spoke to him and persuaded him to hand himself in to police and make a full confession of his crimes.

“I do not condone his despicable actions.”

After Tapp handed himself into police on March 28, officers tried to trace ‘Jessica’ and found Wales.

Both men were put on the sex offenders’ register and banned from working with children.