Paedophile can keep tutoring children (From This Is Local London)

Paedophile can keep tutoring children

8:33am Thursday 25th August 2005 in

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A PERVERT who emailed thousands of pornographic images of children says attempts to stop him tutoring youngsters were "a waste of time and public money".

Police have decided not to permanently stop computer expert Gavin Seagers from working with children.

The convicted paedophile had been temporarily banned from offering tuition after being outed' by a child abuse support group.

Phoenix Survivors contacted a national newspaper in May after learning Seagers was working with children despite being sent to prison for sending child porn over the internet.

Calling himself Spank Daddy, Seagers, who was a member of international child-porn ring The Wonderland Club, fantasised online about abducting, torturing and raping children.

He was arrested in 1998 following the largest-ever international police operation, leading to 107 arrests in 12 countries and the seizure of 740,000 images of 1,200 children.

In 2001, he was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court to two years in prison but was released after one year.

He was also put on the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years.

Now, following Kent police's decision not to apply for a permanent banning order, Seagers says he should never have been targeted.

He said: "I am pleased the authorities have acknowledged the true situation and dropped their action based on an expert assessment of my risk."

Seagers says he has never abused a child and any tutoring would have taken place with a parent in the room.

The 34-year-old from Swanscombe also says he has been on a waiting list for treatment for more than two years.

He added: "I consider the original reporting to be no more than the misguided attitudes of a tabloid newspaper desperate to find the latest hysterical headline and the action taken in response has proved to be a complete waste of time and public money."

But Phoenix Survivors' founder Shy Keenan has spoken of her horror at Kent police's decision not to seek a permanent ban.

Ms Keenan, herself a victim of sexual abuse as a child, tipped off the national newspaper when she learned of Seagers' work.

Seagers went to a Dartford flat in April, thinking he would tutor an 11-year-old boy but instead he met two reporters.

Ms Keenan said: "Kent police's action is horrifying and it makes me furious authorities are prepared to be this blind. Haven't we done enough to show them he is a threat?

"Someone is going to fall foul of Gavin Seagers and then we will ask, 'Why didn't you stop him when you knew?'

"It's like a train, whistling, screaming and making as much noise as it can but nobody moves until it hits.

"I don't want to be the person who listens to the families explain how their child has fulfilled Gavin Seagers' fantasies."

Police declined to comment on Ms Keenan's statement.