David Livesey downloaded more than 20,000 indecent images and videos of children over an 11-year-old period.
David Livesey, from Clayton-le-Moors, was caught with 564 category A images – the most serious – 468 category B and 19,081 category C.
The images, featuring children as young as four years old, were spread across seven different devices at his home on Whalley Road.
Officers also recovered 1,372 extreme pornographic images and six prohibited images of a children.
Preston Crown Court heard how police attended David Livesey’s home in April 2018 after being contacted by Google about an indecent image which had been downloaded to an IP address at the property.
Search terms and websites were found on David Livesey’s devices, and the images and videos included a ‘large number of different victims’.
David Livesey pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images and one count each of possessing a prohibited image and extreme pornographic images.
He was given a 24-month community order with a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement, a five-year sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for five years.
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