A 39-year-old man who pleaded guilty to 20 sex offences involving young children has been told by a judge it is “inevitable” he will go to prison.

David Brown, of Elthorne Park, Clacton-on-sea, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday and admitted 20 sexual offences including sexual assault of a child, voyeurism and making indecent photographs.

Brown pleaded guilty to six counts of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13, four counts of taking indecent photographs of children, six charges of voyeurism, three counts of making indecent photographs and one charge of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard that the offences took place between July 2017 and January 2019, and involved children as young as seven years old.

Brown denied four further charges of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

Claire Matthews, prosecuting, told the court that those pleas were accepted by the crown and she requested that the four charges denied by Brown lie on file.

The court heard how Brown was caught in possession of 1,831 indecent images of children, with 590 at category A – the most serious – as well as 695 at category B and 546 at category C.

Judge David Pugh ordered a pre-sentence report from the Probation Service to assess risk, and Brown was made subject to an interim Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which will last until his sentence next month.

Addressing Brown, Judge Pugh said: “You have pleaded guilty to a number of very serious matters and I want to make it absolutely plain to you that a custodial sentence is inevitable.”

On the subject of bail, Joanne Eley, representing Brown, argued that he had complied with previous bail conditions.

Judge Pugh granted conditional bail, adding: “Although custody is inevitable, I am prepared to renew your bail.”

Brown previously appeared before magistrates in Ipswich on June 12 and did not enter pleas.

He was initially arrested by police in January 2019 on suspicion of sexual assault of a child aged under 13.

Brown’s sentencing hearing will take place at Ipswich Crown Court on August 21, and is expected to last around an hour and a half.