Boys’ football referee caught with child porn avoids prison
A REFEREE who had been taking charge of boys’ football games for 40 years has avoided prison after being caught with indecent images of young boys.
Gary Badgett, aged 66, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, placed on the sex offender’s register for seven years, and banned from working with children.
Badgett, of Heron Court in Bromley, had been found guilty of six counts of making indecent images of children and one charge of possessing 74 indecent images of children.
During the sentencing at Croydon Crown Court, the court heard Badgett was caught on November 18, 2008, after viewing indecent images of children at the internet cafe in Chatts Video in Bromley.
The owner of the store in Chatterton Road spotted pictures of naked children on the computer Badgett had been using and searched its internet history, finding numerous child porn websites.
He reported this to Bromley police and they searched Badgett’s flat three days later, finding numerous indecent pictures of young boys.
A large number of the pictures were classed as the highest level of depravity, with one showing a boy carrying out a sex act on another boy.
During the trial, Badgett, who had been a referee for 40 years and was a member of the Football Association, claimed someone else had downloaded the photos on the Chatts Video computer.
He also said the pictures found in his flat were planted there by someone else, despite them being kept in an envelope with his handwriting on.
After the sentencing on November 26, investigating officer Detective Constable Neil Buckmaster said: “Badgett has betrayed the trust placed in him by parents and by the FA.”
