School's IT technician caught with indecent images of young boys

A SCHOOL computer technician caught with more than 1,100 indecent images of children has been spared prison.

Of the 1,171 still and moving images found on the computers of Richard Bates, three were of the most serious type – category five – and 138 were category four.

Sam Skinner, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court that 34-year-old Bates, of Chaddesden, had been working as an information technology technician at "a local school" but he had not worked there since his arrest in December 2011.

The court was told that, since his arrest, Bates, of Pembroke Street, Derby, had been seeking advice from a Sheffield-based charity, the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which works with sex offenders, as well as victims and family members, to try to reduce the risk of children being sexually abused.

Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk

myprint-247

View details

Print voucher

Our heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.

Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk

Contact: 01858 468192

Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013

Recorder Michael Elsom handed Bates a three-year community order, with three years' supervision, and a five-year sexual offenders prevention order. He will be on the sexual offenders' register, also for five years.

Recorder Elsom said: "I am satisfied that you did not expose any person to those images, putting them at risk in the future.

"Your computers were only used to store those images and you have taken precautionary steps since your arrest to find help and advice."

Mr Skinner said that police were called to Bates' house on December 6, 2011, after specialist monitoring officers traced an internet address there that was downloading indecent images of children.

He said: "Bates admitted he has been downloading the images between December 2005 and March 2011. They were both still and moving images, mainly of young boys."

Bates told police he had looked at similar images since he was 18 but did not get any sexual gratification from them, he was simply curious.

Mr Skinner said that Bates's partner was unaware of what he was doing.

Mr Lowe, in mitigation, said that his client had co-operated fully with the police and had pleaded guilty to five counts of possessing indecent images of children at the earliest opportunity.

Deborah Denis, from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said none of the men and women who took its 10-week course had reoffended.