Leading children's charities united to condemn the jail sentences handed down to two Sussex paedophiles who were part of the world's largest child porn ring.

David Hines, 30, of Chichester Road, Bognor, and Ian Baldock, 31, of Upper Maze Hill, St Leonards, were among seven men jailed by Kingston Crown Court yesterday.

None of the perverts involved in the Wonderland child pornography club received the highest possible sentence of three years - and the shortest handed down by the judge was just 12 months.

Only Baldock and Hines were placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

Seven leading children's charities including the NSPCC, Barnardo's, and ChildLine joined forces to say the sentences sent out the wrong message to abusers.

Director of the child protection charity Kidscape, Dr Michelle Elliott, said the sentences were a "joke" which suggested the crimes were not being taken seriously.

She said: "You would get a longer sentence for accumulating masses of parking tickets or for burglary.

"I am absolutely stupefied by this leniency. It sends a clear message that these crimes are not being taken seriously."

But detectives who cracked the Internet club in one of the largest-ever international police investigations said they were satisfied the judge had awarded the longest terms he could under the law.

New legislation has since increased the maximum jail term to ten years.

Judge Kenneth Macrae, at Kingston Crown Court, told the defendants they had encouraged "the use and abuse of children for your own perverted gratification".

Their vast Internet database of horrific images of child sex abuse featured a staggering 750,000 images, including the rape of babies as young as two or three months.

Other children suffered appalling injuries and were seen sobbing uncontrollably in digitised video clips as they were violated.

Hines, 30, of Chichester Road, Bognor, had told a BBC documentary: "We just didn't see it as abuse. We saw it as there were some children involved in relationships."

The others in the dock were:

Antoni Skinner, 36, from Cheltenham, Ahmed Ali, 31, of Tulse Hill, London, Andrew Barlow, 25, of Bletchley, Frederick Stephens, 46, of Hayes, and Gavin Seagers, 29, of Dartford, Kent.

Seagers, Ali and Barlow were sentenced to two years, Skinner received 18 months and Stephens 12 months.