Febuary 2002 Internet paedophile spread ‘evil cancer’ A paedophile has been jailed after police in the United States traced images on the internet back to the man’s Nottinghamshire home. Richard Jepson was said by the judge to have “provided an electronic highway for an evil cancer”. Jepson, 33, from Mansfield, admitted charges of making, possessing and distributing thousands of images of children. During the police investigation he had claimed he was on a one-man crusade to track down and trap internet paedophiles because he was disillusioned with the justice system. His activities came to light when anti-vice officers in America traced the images held on offenders’ computers to Jepson’s home computer. Grace Hale, prosecuting, said officers found 5,000 images and 600 movies stored on the server. Ms Hale said that police, over a 13-day period, logged 1,278 visits by computer users looking for pornographic images. Sentencing Jepson to five years in jail, Judge Stephen Waine told him: “You provided an electronic highway for an evil cancer to spread around the world which will help to destroy or maim many a young life. “It is difficult to think of any nastier offences than those for which you were responsible.”