A 48-year-old Dublin man who collected more than 35,000 images and videos of child pornography has been jailed for two years.
Adrian Savage of Millward Terrace, Meath Road, Bray, has two previous convictions for similar offences.
He was caught after downloading the material in internet cafes in Dublin in 2007 and 2009.
His behaviour was described by an expert witness as 'absolutely bizarre' as he spent more time collecting and hoarding the images than viewing them.
Savage, who has a Masters degree in Philosophy, was described as being 'a loner' who was isolated from society.
Judge Patricia Ryan said aggravating factors in the case were the fact that he had previous convictions, had received treatment and re-offended.
To 'mark the seriousness of the case' she imposed a three-year sentence, suspending the final year, and directed that he be supervised for 18 months after his release.
In 2004 Savage was given a suspended sentence for similar offences.
A probation report handed into court today categorised him as being moderate to high-risk of re-offending.
Judge Ryan said she would take into account his remorse and shame, his treatment by the local community after his previous conviction, along with his plea of guilty and his co-operation with the gardaí.
At a sentence hearing in May, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was told that Savage was attending a clinical psychologist when he re-offended.
He was apprehended by gardaí on two occasions after visiting internet cafes where he downloaded the images and videos of children being abused.
Some were as young as two years old.
He stored the images on DVDs, CDs and USB keys and 17 photo albums.
Garda analysts found almost 35,000 images and 460 movies all depicting young girls being sexually abused.
An assistant director of the Granada Institute Dr Patrick Randall who assessed Savage described his behaviour as 'something deeper seated than sexual attraction'.
He said it was the most unusual case he had ever dealt with in that his activity was primarily one of collecting and hoarding the images.
Gardaí accepted it was part of a pattern of compulsive and addictive behaviour.
There was no suggestion that he had distributed the images or paid for them, the court was told.
