A PAEDOPHILE has been jailed for 19 years for using two young girls as "sexual playthings" and directing them to pose for indecent photographs.

Paul Wilkinson, 41, of Broadstone Way, Holme Wood, Bradford, raped a ten-year-old girl, attempted to rape her and sexually assaulted her.

He was also found guilty by a jury at Bradford Crown Court of attempting to rape a second girl aged ten and sexually assaulting her.

Wilkinson had amassed a huge stash of child pornography and took perverted photos of both his victims.

His "terribly criminality" came to light when the police raided his home and seized his computer with more than 12,000 indecent photos of children on it.

Further child porn pictures and movies were found on his phone.

Yesterday, Wilkinson sat in the dock with his arms folded as Judge Neil Davey QC said he had been found guilty of a catalogue of offences against two young girls.

He must sign on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life and a Sexual Offences Prevention Order bans him from having any unsupervised contact with girls under 16.

Judge Davey told Wilkinson: "You treated these girls as sexual playthings."

He undressed his first victim when she was aged nine or ten, showed her a pornographic movie, tried to have sex with her and then raped her.

When she was 11, he directed her to pose for him while he took indecent photos of her.

The jury was shown indecent pictures he took of the second girl that he added to his hoard of child porn.

Wilkinson's barrister, Tina Landale, said he had lost his family, his home and all his possessions.

He was put in care when a young child and had led a lonely life.

After the case, Detective Constable John Higgins, of West Yorkshire Police's Abusive Images Unit, said: "The investigation into Wilkinson began when indecent images were found on his computer but this escalated when victims came forward to make allegations of serious sexual abuse against him.

“The lengthy term of imprisonment passed down today reflects the severity of these offences.

"We would like to thank the victims and their families for coming forward and we hope it will help to give them some closure.

"We also hope it will encourage other victims of sexual abuse to engage with West Yorkshire Police and our specially trained officers, who will investigate all offences sensitively and thoroughly, with the aim of securing convictions against offenders."