Durham Passport Office worker sentenced over indecent images

James Close was socially inadequate and had never had an adult relationship, his sentencing hearing was told

A Passport Office worker with a sexual interest in children who stole 30 photographs of girls from applications has received a suspended jail sentence.

James Close, 36, who worked at Durham Passport Office for 14 years, took the images between May and December 2018.

Last January, police searched his home and seized three devices containing over 1,000 indecent images of children.

Close, of Shildon, County Durham, kept the passport photos, of girls aged from eight to 16, in a locked drawer.

The mother of one of the girls whose photo was stolen told the court her family felt "violated".

'Attractive to him'

At Durham Crown Court, Judge Jonathan Carroll told her he hoped she took some comfort from the fact that Close had not shared the image, and that police had found no evidence he manipulated the photos he stole to make depraved images from them.

Close, who used to work in the Passport Office print room, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, one of possessing prohibited images of children, one of possessing extreme pornography and a theft charge.

Nigel Soppitt, mitigating, said Close was socially inadequate and had never had an adult relationship. Mr Soppitt said his client could not provide an explanation for stealing the photos, saying: "They were attractive to him, he says no more than that."

Sentencing him to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, Judge Carroll told the defendant he had caused "profound damage to the public trust" in the Passport Office.

Close was also given a curfew and must sign the sex offenders register.

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