A PAEDOPHILE who fled to the U.S. after encouraging a child at a special school to send him an explicit video has been spared jail.

Angel Holcroft, 24, of Fernbank Place, Ascot, pleaded guilty to three counts of making an indecent image of a child and one of possessing an extreme pornographic photo.

Reading Crown Court heard today (February 15) that Holcroft came onto the police's radar after explicit text messages were discovered on the phone of a pupil at a local special school.

Investigators identified Holcroft as a suspect, and his home was raided by officers in 2017.

His devices were seized, and several unlawful images were recovered.

One of these was a video which showed the special schoolgirl engaging in an indecent act.

Sentencing Holcroft, Judge Emma Nott said the defendant had encouraged the girl to send the video to him.

Another image found on his devices featured a man having sex with a dog.

While under investigation in 2019, Holcroft fled to the U.S., where he lived for four years.

While abroad, he got married and divorced - before returning to the UK to be rearrested.

Holcroft, who has learning difficulties, claimed he was not aware at the time he emigrated that criminal charges were about to be filed against him.

But Judge Nott ridiculed this suggestion.

Addressing the defendant, she said: "You knew enough to know what you were doing wrong. You are sufficiently independent to go to America, get married, get divorced."

Nevertheless, the judge decided against imposing an immediate jail sentence.

She noted that Holcroft had not offended again in the seven years since his first arrest.

As a result, he was handed a prison sentence of eight months, suspended for two years.

In addition, he will take part in a sex offender rehabilitation programme.