Police officer prosecuted for indecent images

The BBC reports that a police community support officer from Cumbria who downloaded pictures of children being abused has been given a suspended jail term. Cumbria Police confirmed he no longer worked for the force.

Under Section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978, it is an offence to take or make, distribute or show any indecent photograph or pseudo photograph of a child. Under Section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, it is an offence to have any indecent photograph of a child in the Defendant’s possession.

However both of those offences were limited to photographs or pseudo-photographs. Section 63 to 69 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 criminalised possession of extreme pornographic images, and now section 62 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 makes it an offence to possess prohibited images of a child under 18.