Cathy Olliver, prosecuting, said the undercover officer had entered a a "teen" chatroom, for those aged between 13 and 19, when he was contacted by a user called AP16MUK - standing for Andrew Picard, aged 16, male, from the UK.  Picard messaged the undercover officer, asking: "Do you want to see pics of boys and girls your age, nude?"  Boasting of having hundreds of videos, Picard added the officer on Skype and shared indecent images of a boy aged 10 and girls aged eight and 14.  Asking the undercover officer for proof he was 14 as he said and not some "old" man, Picard later shared a video of his own face.  "His IP address led police to Eton school in Berkshire where staff were able to identify him as a pupil," Ms Olliver said. "He was arrested from school on suspicion of distributing indecent photographs of children."  Picard, now 18, admitted one count of possessing indecent pictures of children, one count of making indecent pictures of children and eight counts of distributing indecent photos or recordings of a child.  Detectives found 1,185 indecent images and videos on his computer and on hard drives seized from his school dormitory.  They also discovered logs from the chatrooms where Picard boasted about the "quality" of his videos and asked users who claimed to be as young as 14 to exchange naked shots of themselves for indecent videos he would provide.  Ms Olliver added: "There are aggravating features, the children are very young, in obvious pain and distress, and the number of photographs distributed."  Eton College in Berkshire Photo: INS  Picard shut his eyes as Judge Peter Ross described some of the Category A material found in his possession.  Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC, defending, referred to her client's remorse and pointed to the good work he had been doing with doctors in the past year, undergoing constant treatment with numerous doctors and psychiatrists.  "This is a young and very able man who has hopes for the future," she added. "He was able to have this opportunity [to seek help] and this was something Andrew sought for himself, by himself."  Sparing Picard jail, Judge Ross said a term of custody would undo the good work he had done in the past year undergoing extensive counselling.  He said: "This defendant Andrew Picard was a privileged young man. His family are clearly wealthy enough to send him to school in Eton.  "Quite how you found your way into this unpleasant world Mr Picard, the world of chatrooms and exchanging this material, is not clear to me.  "Why you did it doctors and others have sought to explain - the emotional difficulties you had, issues around your sexuality."  Andrew Picard was given a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months Photo: INS  However, the judge criticised all those who deal in child sexual exploitation, saying they were not "victimless crimes".  "All too often in these courts we see the internet and chatrooms providing a degree of assumed detachment in terms of what is said and the material that is viewed," he added.  "Please make no bones about it, these are children, some of them very tiny, and they are being abused and tortured simply to provide sexual gratification, mainly. to adult males.  "All over the world, too often in the third world, children being made objects of the most appalling abuse. It forms a currency and you played a part in that. You were seeking to obtain your own sexual gratification."  Picard, of Westminster, London, was handed a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months.  A mental health treatment requirement was added for the same period, which will continue with his existing providers. He was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was ordered to pay £1,200 in prosecution costs.  The judge added: "It has been said that you and your family have suffered deeply as a result of your arrest and public exposure. Your family didn't deserve that but it is a consequence of this sort of offending."  • Teachers who download indecent images of children to be banned from classroom
Judge says prison would 'undo' counselling 'privileged' Andrew Picard has   undergone after he was caught distributing hundreds of images on Skype