Child Porn 'Librarian' Jailed

The "librarian" of a sickening child porn exchange has been jailed for a minimum of three years.

Philip Anthony Thompson, 27, of Stockton-on-Tees, admitted running an online paedophile forum, which had amassed almost 250,000 images.

Over 3,000 of the pictures were deemed grade four and five - the highest level of child abuse.

Unemployed Thompson, who lived with his mother, supplied images of children, aged between six and twelve, to a global ring of deprived paedophiles.

It is understood some of the pictures may have involved children even younger.

The police sting that uncovered Thompson's operation is said to be the biggest ever investigation into online child abuse.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre supported police in the investigation, which has seen 360 suspects identified worldwide, resulting in more than 50 arrests.

The police swoop also saved 15 children from abuse.

During police interviews, Thompson admitted sharing the pornographic images with other "like-minded people" across the world.

He also told police how he had also set up two online forums.

At Teesside Crown Court, Thompson pleaded guilty to 27 charges including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, taking, making and distributing indecent images.

Prosecutor Harry Hadfield told the court police raided Thompson's home in February this year and recovered two desk top computers and a laptop, as well as a selection of other computer paraphernalia.

"Forensic analysis by computer experts established that the defendant had 241,000 indecent photographs of children, being one of the largest seizures of indecent photographs in the UK," he said.

Handing down sentence, Judge Michael Taylor said Thompson posed a "very significant risk" to the public and therefore he would be imposing an indeterminate prison sentence for public protection.

The Judge told Thompson: "You have shown that you are a very dangerous individual indeed. I consider that you pose a very significant risk to the public and you are a dangerous offender."

The Judge handed down an indefinite sentence, of a minimum of 45 months.

Thompson will be placed on the sex offenders register for life.

He was also banned from the Internet and having any contact with children.

Cleveland Police said the guilty verdict struck a "major blow" to online child abuse and should act as a deterrent.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite said Thompson had been "a critical piece of this network".

"He was, essentially, the librarian for a myriad of images that were distributed to like-minded individuals both in this country and elsewhere."

(PR/JM)