Child sex abuser's sick tapes of victims; COURT: Paedophile gets seven years.

Byline: Emma Stone

A PAEDOPHILE was caught when a teenager discovered sick video tapes he had made of his attacks on toddlers.

Security guard Philip Albans, aged 56, had tried to hide the horrific footage in between recordings of Top of the Pops on VHS tapes he had hidden at his Coventry home.

But when a teenage guest discovered the contents of the tapes in July this year, she handed the recording over to police.

When detectives raided his home in Park View, Stoke Green, they discovered more videos, Polaroid pictures and video cameras.

Yesterday, Warwick Crown Court heard Albans had befriended the "vulnerable" mothers of a boy and a girl.

He lavished them with gifts and day trips, grooming them until he had gained their trust to be allowed to babysit the toddlers alone, when he abused the children and filmed it on a video camera.

The court was told he would later watch the recordings for "sexual gratification".

Speaking of the tapes' discovery, prosecutor Tim Green said: "She was curious.

"She played a tape and found images from Top of the Pops and in them were images of children being sexually abused by the defendant.

"She was shocked by what she found. She handed it to police."

The recordings show three young children, although one of the children had not been identi-fied until yesterday.

Defending, Kristina Montgomery said her client wanted to make it clear these type of offences were in his past. The offences dated back about nine years.

Albans pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault, three counts of making indecent photographs of children, one count of indecency with a child and three counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child. All of his victims were aged about three-years-old.

Yesterday he was jailed for seven years, ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for life and will be subject to a Sex Offenders Prevention Order indefinitely upon his release.

The court also heard that Albans had previous convictions, including a conviction for two indecent assaults against a child in 1970 and a conviction for sexual activity in public place in 2006.

Judge Trevor Faber said: "These films are the most graphic I have ever seen of offences of this nature.

"This case involves your befriending of vulnerable women. "Your grooming of them and their children gave you the opportunity to gain their trust, so they would allow their young children in your home alone with you, so you could sexually abuse them and film it."

Detective Constable Catherine Dell said after the trial: "If he had not been caught, Albans would have continued to be a threat to young children."

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JAILED... paedophile Philip Albans abused toddlers