BREAKING NEWS: Lambeth councillor found with 94,000 images and videos of abused kids escapes jail
6:34pm Monday 9th May 2011 in News
Former councillor Toren Smith
A former Lambeth councillor who admitted possessing more than 94,000 images and videos of abused children, and was looking at porn when police raided his house, has escaped jail.
Toren Smith, of Lilford Road, Camberwell, was given a two year suspended sentence at Southwark Crown Court today, after earlier pleading guilty to 24 counts of possessing and making indecent images of children.
Detectives from the paedophile unit of Metropolitan Police’s child abuse command, searched the former Tulse Hill ward Councillor’s home on May 21 last year, after inquiries revealed Smith had, on two occasions, paid to download material which included a number of Level 5 images and footage - the most serious kind.
A Met Police spokesman said: “During a search of the property officers seized a laptop computer and a USB stick [used to store computer data] and at the time of the search Smith was logged onto to a site which was displaying pornographic material.”
Further examination of Smith's computer and USB stick revealed 777 movies - 11 of which were Level 5 - and 93,549 still images, police said.
Smith, who was a respected senior Labour member of the council who had been an elected member for 16 years and was co-chair of the council's planning committee, resigned from the council three days later “for personal reasons”.
He was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for the Level 1 - 3 images; 6 months for the Level 4 images; and 12 months for the Level 5 images - all to run concurrently. His sentences were suspended for 24 months.
In addition, he was made subject to Sex Offender Prevention Order for five years, and placed on the Sex Offender Register for a minimum of five years. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
After today’s sentencing, Detective Inspector Noel McHugh, of The Met’s paedophile unit said: “We are totally committed to identifying and prosecuting anyone who possesses or trades indecent images of children. Each image or movie represents a child who has been abused and we will continue to work tirelessly to bring anyone who is in anyway involved in the abuse of children to justice.”
It is believed Smith had a clean record when an advanced Criminal Records Bureau check was carried out on him as part of a council protocol introduced in light of the Baby P scandal in 2009.
Danfader says...
7:01pm Mon 9 May 11