The estranged wife of a jailed American paedophile came forward to provide police with more than 3,000 'erotic' images of children her husband had amassed to increase his sentence.
Patrick Sears, was convicted last month for sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13 and was jailed to Wormwood Scrubs for five years, however a further four months has now been added to that sentence after further evidence came to light on Thursday.
Judge Jeremy Donne, addressing Sears, 32, who was appearing via video link from prison, said: "You have pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing this material, and the quantity had ran into the thousands.
"As a result his marriage has broken down and his wife contacted the officer in the case.
"These images were found on the hard drives of two computers."
The court heard how the officer visited her home, in Salisbury Road, Harrow, where further evidence was obtained containing hundreds of indecent and 'erotic' images of children under the age of 16.
The defence lawyer, addressing Judge Donne, said: "He has blighted his own good character and indeed his own life."
The court heard of Sears' desire to return to his home country, The United States of America, with his defence adding: "His experience of the United Kingdom has not been entirely happy."
Sears was given a four-month sentence for the four counts of possession of the images he admitted to, which will be served concurrently alongside his current five-year sentence.
Judge Donne described the nature of the images as to be in the "least serious category" of images, and that they were not obtained through a vicious industry but instead were pictures the girls had made themselves – colloquially known as 'selfies' – many of them involving the pictured girl being topless.
The judge added: "I have no doubt at all that if the judge who sentenced you initially had this further evidence, the sentence would not have been any longer."
Sears is currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme while in prison.
