Ex-gymnastic coach created indecent child images

Two indecent videos and 15 indecent photographs were found on Thomas Verdicchio's devices

A former gymnastic coach has been jailed after pleading guilty to creating indecent images of children.

Thomas Verdicchio, 24, was arrested after a referral in October last year by British Gymnastics, the UK's national governing body for the sport.

Officers found videos and photographs on his devices. He pleaded guilty to four counts of making an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child.

Verdicchio, of Seathwaite, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was sentenced to one-year and 10 months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.

Cambridgeshire Police said officers seized his mobile phone, iPad and laptop and found two category B videos and 15 category C photographs – category A is the most severe.

Some of the images were digitally manipulated using "deep fake" technology to superimpose a child's head onto a nude body.

Det Con Daniel Knight said: "Verdicchio was fully aware his actions were wrong, and he betrayed the trust placed in him by the community.

"He poses a serious threat to children, and had he not been caught, his crimes could have escalated into contact offences."

Verdicchio, who worked for Rotations Trampoline Club in Huntingdon was also issued with a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and must register with the police throughout that period.