A pensioner was found with dolls which he had adapted to look like naked boys when police raided his home in search of child abuse images.
Leslie Clements was found with 23 images despite installing three different evidence elimination programmes on his computer.
Officers also found dolls on to which he had stuck penises at his home near Teignmouth.
Clements, aged 71, of Abbotshill Park, Abbotskerswell, admitted four offences of making indecent images of children and was jailed for two months, suspended for 18 months by Recorder Mr Philip Mott, QC, at Exeter Crown Court.
The Recorder also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which bans him from reinstalling evidence elimination software and requires him to make his computers and browsing history available for inspection by the police.
He told him: ‘There were a comparatively small number of images found, but that may be because of your use of software to erase them. This is by no means the worst case of its kind.’
Mr David Bowen, prosecuting, said the 23 images were found after police executed a warrant because Clements was identified by an international investigation.
He said: ‘An analysis of the equipment revealed images and the police also found several dolls of babies with penises fixed to their front.
‘His computer displayed three software packages designed to erase images, so an attempt was made to disguise or obscure what he was doing.
‘Analysis also revealed he has actively searched for images although there was no evidence of him visiting chat rooms or sharing.’
Mr Martin Salloway, mitigating, said Clements had accessed the images at a time when he was lonely, isolated and vulnerable after the death of his mother.
He had been candid with the police and probation service about his interest in the material and using it for sexual gratification.