A heroic dog has caught a paedophile red-handed, with the serial sex offender ranting "that's a lie" as he is rumbled.
Andrew Contento feigned innocence when police knocked on his door, and found himself turned in by a dog which could sniff electronic devices.
The pooch, named PD Monty, found a hidden phone, with sickening, indecent images stored on it by the 54-year-old, Liverpool Crown Court has heard.
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Contento, who is subject to a lifelong sexual harm prevention order due to previous convictions, appeared to be in breach of the terms of his SHPO, which requires him to hand over any electronic devices when requested, LiverpoolLive reported.
The grim paedophile instead hid a mobile device from attending officers, with a routine visit to his home on Rock Lane East in Wirral, Liverpool, leading to the discovery.
Contento had given members of the force three electronic items but a sniffer dog caught out the registered sex offender and found a hidden device.
Using a "digital specialist media search dog", police cleared the property after Contento claimed he had no other devices to hand over to the officers.
It did not take long for PD Monty to discover an extra mobile phone which was hidden inside a rucksack beside his feet, which alarmed Contento.
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Prosecutor Derek Jones says after the find Contento had said to police he knew they would "lock me up. I know what's on it."
But a pair of outbursts in court heard Contento contest the quotes, saying to the prosecution: "Liar. That's a lie."
A second outburst, which heard Contento dismiss collecting indecent images for his "sexual gratification" saw the 54-year-old say: "No, I didn't".
Analysis of the phone found a 31-minute compilation of a girl as young as 12 being raped as well as 15 category B images, including 13 videos, and 34 category C pictures.
Contento admitted three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children and breaching a sexual harm prevention order, to which he was jailed for 20 months.
Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said: "Clearly, your past amounts to an aggravating feature in this case. Unfortunately for you, police dog Monty is a specialist in finding electronic devices and did just that.
"You know this has to be an immediate custodial sentence. I am told you hope to have access to therapy and intend to try and change upon your release. I hope you do. Otherwise, you are going to serve more and more sentences of imprisonment."
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