April 2010

Child porn shame of former teacher from Hornsea

A RETIRED primary school teacher was found with almost 20,000 “deeply disturbing” indecent images of little girls.

Robert Dickson, 63, told the police he got a “thrill” from viewing the sick images.

Dickson, of Esplanade, Hornsea, worked as a primary school teacher in Withernsea for 27 years, before retiring in 1996.

Hull Crown Court heard he began viewing child porn five years ago after he bought a computer.

Prosecutor Wendy Foster said: “He said since the age of 13 he had been fascinated by porn and had looked for bigger and bigger thrills and younger and younger girls.

“He said he knew what he was doing was wrong but viewed them for his own sexual gratification.

“He said it was purely visual and he was not looking at girls in the street.”

More than 2,000 of the images were at the top end of the scale of depravity, with just under 14,000 at the lowest level, showing children being abused.

He had a total of 19,520 indecent images and 159 video clips of girls aged between four and 10 years.

Dickson was caught as part of a national police crackdown on paedophilia.

He pleaded guilty to 16 counts of making indecent photographs – which relates to downloading them – and one count of possessing indecent images.

Dickson was sentenced to a community order for three years, supervision for three years by the Probation Service and ordered to attend a sex offender treatment programme.

He was also told to sign the sex offenders register for five years and has been given a sex offenders’ prevention order for life, forcing him to allow the police frequent access to his computer to monitor what he is viewing.

When approached by the Mail at his home, Dickson said he had been an “idiot”.

He said: “I’m not sexually attracted to children and can’t answer as to why I had the images.

“It wasn’t while I was a teacher.

“I’ve been very naive. It’s cost me everything and destroyed my whole life. I wish I could turn the clock back.

“I’m ashamed and sorry and will do anything to try and put it right.

“I probably won’t touch a computer again in the rest of my life.”

Sentencing Dickson, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said: “The photographs I have seen were revolting in the extreme.

“It was utterly revolting and deeply disturbing. It was shameful conduct.

“It is the more shameful because you come from a responsible background, you were a primary school teacher.

“You acquired the computer after you retired and there is no evidence of any impropriety or misconduct prior to you acquiring this computer.

“There will be parents and pupils who will be shocked at what they read and be concerned about what has gone on when you were a school master.

“There is no evidence before me that suggests you indulged in any form of impropriety, misconduct or criminal behaviour while you were a teacher.

“I sentence you on the basis this arose at a later stage as a result of sexual frustration.”

However, police have appealed to anyone who may have further suspicions about Dickson to get in touch.

Detective Constable Susan Collinson, of the Internet sex offender investigation unit, said: “This was a case involving a large amount of images, some of children as young as four.

“We would encourage anyone who has concerns about this case to contact Humberside Police.”

Call Humberside Police on             0845 6060222      .