A charity shop worker deemed to have "alarming and complex views" was caught with 16,000 images of child abuse and revealed she had a New Year's resolution to have sex with a child under 10 years old. 

Samantha Norris, who is in the process of gender transitioning, was caught with an 'abhorrent' collection of 16,000 indecent images of children.

These include around 2,000 still images and 121 videos of category A - the most serious type. 

The images included children aged as young as three with others showing youngsters aged about six in “distress and pain”, the court heard.

Norris, 56, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children of categories A, B and C, one count of possessing prohibited images of children and a charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image depicting a person engaging in sexual activity with an animal.

She entered the pleas following a trial where she was cleared of charges of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and of indecent exposure to two 11-year-old girls.

Sentencing Norris, Judge Nicholas Rowland said that Norris had also in her possession written notes describing sexual fantasies involving a four-and-a-half-year-old child and a “New Year’s resolution to have sex with a girl under 10”.

He told the defendant: “It’s all about you Samantha Norris and not the victims.

“You do not accept they are victims, you have distorted views and you do not feel your offending should be treated as serious – how would a right-minded person think about that?

“Your views are alarming and complex – you present a high risk of harm to children.

“It’s pretty blatant to me that you decided not to enter guilty pleas (earlier) as these pleas would have gone in front of the jury of the other matters.”

During the trial charges of exposure and sexual activity, of which Norris was cleared, the prosecution had claimed that the defendant had “exposed her penis” deliberately to the two youngsters through the window of her flat.

Salisbury Journal: Southampton Crown CourtSouthampton Crown Court

But Norris, who worked at a Sue Ryder charity shop, told the court that she was a naturist who was “habitually naked” in her own home and the children could only have seen her naked if they had been “spying” on her.

She also said that she had been the victim of abuse from youngsters in the town and she felt these girls had been “taunting” her.

Norris, of Ringwood was jailed for two years at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.