Teacher caught with 11,500 indecent images sentenced

Gareth Mellor, 43, had admitted making indecent images of children

An assistant head teacher who admitted possessing more than 11,500 indecent images and videos of children has been given a suspended sentence.

Gareth Mellor, 43, was employed at a high school in Wakefield, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). None of his offending involved his pupils, the NCA said.

Mellor, of Pennycroft Road, Uttoxeter, admitted three charges related to the making of indecent images at a hearing in November.

He was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday.

As well as the suspended jail term, he was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and made the subject of a 10-year sexual harassment prevention order.

He was also ordered to take part in a sexual offending programme and rehabilitation activity.

Mellor, who also worked as the safeguarding lead at the school, was tracked down by NCA investigators through a Bitcoin payment.

Officers said he had paid for indecent images of children via an encrypted cloud storage service, leading to his arrest at his Staffordshire home in May 2021.

On his two cloud storage accounts, the NCA uncovered more than 11,500 indecent images and videos of children in categories A, B and C, with A being the most serious.

The images, which had not been taken by Mellor, were predominantly of teenage girls, the NCA said.

Of the footage found on his devices, 520 images and videos were Category A.

A further 619 Category B and 10,450 Category C images were also uncovered by investigating officers.

Following his arrest and while on bail, Mellor tried to access one of his accounts in order to delete evidence, the NCA said.

Speaking after Mellor had admitted the offences, NCA operations manager Danielle Pownall said Mellor had been a "committed buyer and consumer of child abuse material" who had "deeply betrayed" the trust bestowed on him in his role as a teacher.

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