Neil Chapman, 34, of Reigate Road in Bromley, was found with more than 100 vile images when police raided his home in August 2021.
According to police intelligence, he posted a gruesome image to an online forum.
When questioned about the upload, he told police, “It rings a bell, but it could have been a medical image.”
Chapman had previously run afoul of the law in 2016, when he was caught with indecent images of children in nearly identical circumstances.
A judge at Croydon Crown Court gave him a suspended sentence on that occasion, so he never served any time in prison.
He appeared in Woolwich Crown Court for sentencing on March 22 after pleading guilty to his most recent offences.
Honor Fitzgerald, the defence counsel, told the court that Chapman had been struggling with his mental health following the deaths of two family members.
She went on to say that this was a “setback” to his rehab, which had been going well.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse sentenced him to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years, which means he will walk free from court again unless he commits another offence during that time.
The reason I’m going to suspend it again is because in prison you will not get the level of help that you need, and the level of help that the public needs you to get to protect them,” said Judge Whitehouse.
She went on to say that he should understand that people like himself cause enormous pain to child sexual abuse victims every day.
