A 42-year-old man who posed online as a child to exchange indecent images with youngsters was told by a judge that he “peddled in filth”.

Kevin Hopson, of no fixed address but of Holyhead in Anglesey, was jailed for three years and ordered to register as a sex offender. Judge Huw Rees told him at Caernarfon crown court: ”Your unhealthy sexual appetite had no boundaries.”

He said the case involved “a degree of deviousness and cunning” in the defendant’s behaviour.

Judge Rees said Hopson used chatrooms in a bid to incite children to engage in sexual activity. “You would manipulate these children into sending indecent images to you which you then distributed to other people,” he remarked.

Simon Rogers, prosecuting, said Hopson created two false web profiles of a boy of 16 and a girl of twelve on KiK.

“The defendant would contact children using these profiles and engage in sexualised communication with them and cause them to engage in sexual activity,” the barrister said.

Police had searched his then home last November and his mobile phone and computer equipment were seized. Some of the child porn was in the worst category.

Mr Rogers said Hopson had exchanged private messages with a girl from Norway who appeared to be 16. She sent him naked images of herself and he sent a lewd picture. Another victim was aged 13 to 15.

Counsel said Hopson set up a number of user groups on-line and set rules to ensure the other participants were children. Mr Rogers added: ”There’s a very high level of sophistication.”

He pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children, distributing them, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and trying to cause a child to watch an image of sexual activity.

Ffion Tomos, defending, said Hopson had no previous convictions. He’d been homeless since his arrest.

Judge Rees said the victims of the attempted incitement of sexual activity were of both sexes and aged 13 to 15.

“You were sexually explicit to a very high degree in your contact with these children,” the judge remarked. “You were sexually interested in children.”

A sexual harm prevention order was made.