Nelson used a computer programme to create the images and sold or exchanged them in an encrypted chatroom for paedophiles.
The court heard he took requests from people who wanted him to create explicit images of children being harmed both sexually and physically.
His offences were uncovered when he began speaking to an undercover police officer in May last year.
Nelson told the officer he took commissions from customers for the images with some requests coming from France, Italy and the United States.
Prosecutor David Toal said: “The defendant said he had over 60 characters in total, ranging from six months to middle-aged, and he charged £80 to create a new character.”
Nelson was arrested at his home in Egerton in June 2023 and his devices were seized and examined.
He told officers his offending “had got out of control” after he had met other paedophiles online.
His defence lawyer Bob Elias said he was a “lonely, socially isolated” man who had “plunged down the rabbit hole to this sort of fantasy life and became completely engrossed in it”.
