A MUM who became the victim of a paedophile bus driver who doctored a Facebook image of her child has spoken of the devastating impact of what he did.

Churchgoing former bus driver Steven Knight had thousands of sick images of children being abused, took photographs of children while working as a bus driver on a school run, doctored a Facebook photo of a woman and child to add his naked body into the picture and had bestiality images.

The 48-year-old self-confessed paedophile was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday. The decision not to jail him left close family in tears, some breaking down inside the court when they discovered more of the detail of his offending. One of his sisters had to be comforted by family outside the court once they learned their sex offender brother would walk free.

In police interview Knight had said he was 'interested in her three-year-old child' and accepted he had doctored the image to add a caption, far too graphic to publish and which was branded 'obscene' by the judge who sentenced him.

"He said he knew he needed help and said he had worked as a bus driver and had driven school buses," said Siobhan Collins, prosecuting.

The woman said in her victim personal statement that Knight, who had been a church leader at a church youth group, said she had altered her movements 'to avoid bumping into the defendant'.

Miss Collins added: "The situation has made her feel anxious and disgusted. It has made her want to be more protective of her children, especially on social media."

The mum said the experience had damaged her trust in others and that she had suffered loss of sleep and migraines as a result of what Knight did.

"She has found it difficult to talk about this offending with those close to her. It has taken its toll on how she has been in herself. It has affected her job. Going forward, she will always be reminded of this situation. She is grateful that the defendant has admitted guilt," said Miss Collins.

The woman has yet to tell her children about what happened because she is concerned about the detrimental effect on their mental and physical health such a revelation would have.

As previously reported, Knight admitted making indecent images of children at categories A (the worst kind), B and C and possession of extreme pornographic images involving animals.

The defendant of Queensmead, Bredon, admitted making (downloading) indecent images of children at category A - 85 moving images and 267 stills between July 29, 2015 and October 20 last year.

Over the same dates he also admitted making indecent indecent images at category B (194 stills) and category C (289 stills). He further admitted possession of extreme pornography and a further offence of making indecent images of children, committed to the crown court by magistrates. Some of the images involved babies as young as one year old.

However, there were many more indecent images which went uncategorised - 60,000 on one device and over 481,000 on an Asus laptop. On an SD card were found 'images of schoolgirls exposing their underwear'. He said he could not remember how long he had been taking the photos for.

Judge Martin Jackson made Knight subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years. He must also notify as a sex offender for 10 years.