A former Cambridgeshire child protection police officer has been jailed after pleading guilty to possessing images of children as young as 18 months old being abused and tortured.

James Jordan, 32, was dismissed without notice from his job as Detective Constable at Thorpe Wood Police Station following a misconduct hearing on January 30.

Jordan pleaded guilty to five counts of possession/making indecent images of a child, which included 62 category A images, the most serious category possible.

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of misconduct in a public office.

Jordan was sentenced to four years at St Albans Crown Court 

He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and put on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Jordan was a detective constable working for the Child Protection and Safeguarding Unit, based at Thorpe Wood Police Station.

But rather than protect the vulnerable victims of crime he had sworn to protect, he “ran roughshod” over that trust, accessing horrific images of children as young as 18 months old being abused and tortured.

Judge Michael Roques said Jordan’s actions caused the public to mistrust the police, caused a danger that victims of offences might not come forward, and culprits go uncaught.

Judge Roques added that Jordan committed the offences while a number of high profile national cases involving police officers were going through the courts – and he knew the impact those cases were having on public’s trust of the police.

Jordan, who wore a suit and was supported by family and friends in the public gallery, showed no emotion as he was led away to start his prison sentence.