JANUARY 2007

Primary school caretaker jailed for child porn stash

A FORMER school caretaker who hoarded over 13,000 indecent images of children has been sentenced to less than two years in prison.

Peter Miller, 53, owned several computers which he used to store the obscene photos, as well as access child porn websites, enter chat rooms and share photos with other paedophiles.

Miller pleaded guilty to 11 counts of making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children at Southwark Crown Court in December.

The admission came after the Met’s Paedophile Unit raided his home in Earsby Street, Hammersmith, in September last year.

The house is owned by the Avonmore Primary School, where Miller had worked as caretaker.

Officers found photos stored on a collection of discs, memory cards and external hard drives.

They said the majority of the images were at the most obscene end of the scale used to rank pornographic photos of children.

A spokesman said: “The images ranged between levels one and five – the majority of which were level one.

“They range from the lowest end of the spectrum, with children posing fully clothed, through to explicit images of sex acts.”

Detective Sergeant Nick Duffield, who works for the Paedophile Unit, added: “Miller had accumulated a very large number of abusive images and was actively using the internet to engage with other paedophiles.

“We have worked closely with the school and local authority during the investigation and are satisfied Miller has not directly committed any abuse.

“However, we should not forget that even if a paedophile does not engage in hands on abuse, every time they download an image they perpetuate the demand for such material and children continue to suffer.”

Miller was suspended from working at the school at the beginning of the last school term and dismissed soon afterwards.

A statement from Hammersmith and Fulham Council issued on behalf of Avonmore Primary School stated: “During the investigation Miller was banned from coming near the school site.

“None of these crimes relate to pupils at the school but we are pleased that the police investigation uncovered Miller’s activities.”