Child porn council officer jailed

A former council education officer convicted of downloading more than 4,000 indecent images of children has been sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Dean Waller, 34, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, had pleaded guilty to 10 charges of making indecent images of children.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Waller accessed the images, 10 of which were rated at level five, the most extreme, between June 2006 and November 2007.

Waller has lost his job as a pupil services manager for Medway Council.

Anne Phillips, prosecuting, said that in his role with the council Waller did not come into direct contact with pupils.

He was arrested in November last year after Kent Police were contacted by German authorities who were investigating a website being used to download and distribute child pornography.

Mrs Phillips said a computer and a laptop were seized from Waller's home and he was interviewed by officers.

He admitted he had been accessing adult porn for the past two years on a weekly basis and that he had a sexual interest in children between the ages of 13 and 16.

But the court heard that some of the images found on his computer featured children as young as five.

As he sentenced Waller, Judge Martin Joy said he had taken into account the fact that he had pleaded guilty to all of the offences at the first available opportunity and that he had previously been of good character.

He ordered that Waller should not be allowed to access the internet, or live or have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 until further notice.

Waller has already been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.