A perverted Canterbury man – who claimed he was responsible for a sex crime for which his brother is now in prison – has escaped the same punishment.

Jason Ball walked into a police station after brother Jon, 29, had been jailed, to say he was responsible for the vile images which were found on a computer.

But by then a jury had found Jon Ball guilty of four downloading charges – and a judge passed an eight-month sentence.

His older brother, Jason, 33, who pleaded guilty to three similar offences, has now received a nine-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

“People like you have a direct responsibility for the exploitation and sexual abuse of children" - Judge Simon James

Prosecutor Bridget Todd said some of the images were of children under three years old and two were babies.

Jon – who had denied his charges – is now appealing his sentence, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Both brothers lived in St Peter’s Place where police found the sordid images after a raid in 2012.

Jon admitted looking for Gothic Lolita images and pictures of Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, claiming he had an interest in Japanese-style cartoons.

After the trial and conviction, Jason walked into a police station to claim he was responsible for some of the illegal material.

He pleaded guilty to three offences after admitting he had an interest in pre-pubescent schoolgirls.

Jason, who has spent a month in custody awaiting sentence, said he had dreams of becoming a historian but ended up in tele-sales.

Judge Simon James told him: “People like you have a direct responsibility for the exploitation and sexual abuse of children.

“Every click of your computer mouse, you, and others like you, are supporting the evil and repellent exploitation, abuse and rape of children.”

He gave him a nine-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to undergo a programme to tackle his sex offending.

Jason will also remain on the Sex Offender’s Register for 10 years and pay £230 court costs.

Last month Recorder Ed Connell told Jon Ball: “Your account of how those images appeared on your computer was you didn’t know anything about them and you have no sexual interest in children.

“You said there had been some inadvertent downloading while looking for legitimate material in relation to your interest in drawing.”

“The jury didn’t accept your explanation and for my part neither do I. There was other evidence showing you had sought out deliberately indecent images of children, including search terms found on your computer.

“Your claim you were looking for gothic Lolita images was rejected by the jury. And I also heard during the trial your filing of Emma Watson images, again demonstrating an unusual sexual interest in young girls.”

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