Chesterfield: Ex-Scout leader avoids jail over child sex abuse images

Martin Platts was sentenced at Derby Crown Court on Friday

An ex-Scout leader and school governor who downloaded thousands of child sex abuse images has been spared jail.

Martin Platts, of Tennyson Avenue, Chesterfield, admitted four charges of possessing indecent and prohibited images on numerous devices in January.

The 66-year-old made almost 80,000 searches on a Russian website where he downloaded the images over a 10-year period, Derby Crown Court heard.

He was handed a two-year prison term, suspended for two years, on Friday.

The court heard Platts, who was a Scout leader for 39 years, used search terms including "gay cub scouts", "dead children" and "naked molested" to find and download more than 12,000 indecent and prohibited images of children as young as seven.

Community 'betrayal'

Recorder Ruth Coffey spared Platts an immediate custodial sentence as he was suffering with terminal cancer.

She said: "This is an exceptional case coming before the court - for the number of images, for the type of images, for the types of searches, for the very extensive period in which the behaviour has gone on without being detected, and for the positions of trust held.

"There is clearly a connection between the images sought and the children you had in your care.

"It is a betrayal of a community who have looked to you and behind every image is a child who has suffered and been abused."

Prosecutor Eddie Leonard told the court that after Platts' arrest in 2021, police investigators found 6,440 accessible indecent and prohibited images, which included 756 in the most severe category.

The court heard there were also 5,874 inaccessible indecent and prohibited images saved across four devices.

'Devastating impact'

Platts had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing prohibited images.

Defending him, Digby Johnson said there were no physical offences committed with children, adding: "He doesn't come here as some people do, wrapped up in his own world of feeling sorry for himself.

"There was a very early acceptance of what he has done and that it is wrong. He is not someone who has been offending in other ways and people need not feel they have been in peril."

Platts was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Following the sentencing the NSPCC condemned Platts' crimes, adding that he "betrayed" what his community leadership roles represented.

A spokesperson said: "By searching for and viewing these images, Platts betrayed everything his positions as a scout leader and school governor represented, which were having a responsibility for the welfare and safety of children.

"Downloading and viewing indecent images of children helps fuel and support the online trade of child abuse material, an industry which has such a devastating impact on young lives."