A MAN caught with thousands of indecent images of children told police he was a “paedophile hunter”.

Jeffrey Tall used social media to send explicit messages to a “12-year-old-girl” asking her to touch herself.

Little did he know “Lucy White” was not real, the 49-year-old had been speaking to a decoy account set up to snare paedophiles.

When police arrested him on April 27 last year they seized his devices which had images of children “right down to barely about two-years-old”, a court heard.

During the police interview, he claimed he was a “paedophile hunter” and wanted to “entrap potential suspects”.

Tall was aware of the images on his computer, however, “they disgusted him”.

He claimed he wanted to “tease out paedophiles and bring them to justice”.

Tall of Aspen Close, Hedge End appeared before Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday.

He was charged with attempting to cause or incite a female child under 13-years-old to engage in sexual activity and with possessing indecent images of a child. He previously pleaded guilty.

Prosecution barrister, Nick Hall told how Tall was caught with 17 category A images, 14, category B images and 2,880 category C images.

Defence barrister, Berenice Mulvanny argued that Tall was of good character with a previous conviction for an unrelated matter from 2011, adding he had committed no further offences since he was arrested.

Tall claims to live every day regretting what he did and has “lost his daughter” due to his actions.

Judge Gary Burrell QC slammed his collection of images as repulsive and justifying imprisonment.

However, citing the prospect of rehabilitation he said there was a good chance of him leading a good life.

Tall was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years. He must complete a 60-day sexual offenders programme. He is subject to a two-year sexual harm prevention order and a four-month curfew from 7pm to 7am.