A BAE worker lost his job and security clearance after he was found with indecent images of children as young as five, a court heard.
Brian Moore, who had more than a thousand images of children being sexually abused, was arrested while at work.
The 63-year-old dad-of-three was sentenced at Preston Crown Court after he admitted making and possessing some 1,411 indecent images. The court heard he was arrested on October 14.
Still and moving images of children were recovered from three devices seized from his home including a USB stick and a Dell laptop, said prosecutor Stephen Parker.
Arrested by police, Moore admitted he had been 'looking at things on the internet - but child stuff, no'.
The court was told police found a cache of indecent images organised under folder names including 'jailbait' and 'lil hotties'.
Police also found evidence on his laptop he was accessing the dark web and using an encrypted messaging service often used by paedophiles.
His search history also showed he had gone looking for illicit material.
Representing Moore, barrister Rosalind Emsley-Smith said the defendant had been having 'sleepless nights' as he struggled to understand his 'true motivation' for committing the offence
She said: "The offence has taken a very high personal toll on Mr Moore. "He has in effect lost his job. The kind of work he was doing requires a fairly high-level security clearance. "His partner has made it clear she doesn't want anything more to do with him. "He's trying to rebuild his life."
She told the court Moore had completed a rehabilitation programme with a charity and urged the judge to suspend any potential jail sentence.
Passing sentence, recorder Daniel Prowse told Moore: "The harm that befalls children who are subject to sexual abuse is extremely damaging and the scarring is life-long. "You contributed to the market for such images."
The judge sentenced Moore, of Fallowfield Avenue in Ulverston, to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months.
He told Moore: "You do, in my judgement, pose a risk to the public however there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation."
The judge also handed down to the defendant a three-month 8pm to 7am curfew and 25 rehabilitation days.
Moore was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and told to sign the sex offenders register.
