UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet
04 April 2014 by James Macintyre
Campaigners against sexual abuse have expressed grave concerns after a leading figure in Catholic education was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to downloading more than 5,000 indecent images of children.
Fr Tim Gardner, 42, avoided prison as he received an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years, at Southwark Crown Court on Monday. The Dominican friar, who is a former adviser to the Catholic Education Service (CES), will be put on the sex offender register for 10 years. He also received a five-year sexual offences prevention order which will allow police to inspect any computers and storage devices in the priest’s possession.
Police found 5,005 indecent images on his home computer last August, downloaded from the internet, including six images graded at level five – the highest – with one depicting bestiality.
Fr Gardner was also found to have taken part in at least 150 internet discussions with others who shared an interest in the material. He claimed to have been drunk when engaging in the conversations on the online communication tools Skype and Yahoo chat.
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