Ex-police speed camera operator jailed for indecent child images

North Yorkshire Police said Bradley Smith was a "serious offender"

A former member of police staff has been jailed for making and sharing indecent images of children.

Bradley Smith, 36, from York, was a safety camera van operator for North Yorkshire Police until his arrest in February 2019.

He admitted making more than 3,600 indecent images and videos of children - including the most extreme kind - and was sentenced to four years.

He had filmed inside a men's changing room, and a teenager getting dressed.

North Yorkshire Police said Smith was arrested on 6 February 2019 and suspended from duty before being sacked from the force.

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Smith's offences were discovered by the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) team and investigated by North Yorkshire Police.

Forensic examination of phones, tablets and laptops revealed more than 3,600 Category A, B and C indecent photos and videos of of children dating back to 2011.

Det Sgt Lee Allenby said on the day of his arrest, and while still on police duties, Smith uploaded two Category A indecent images of children on his tablet.

He was also charged with eight counts of voyeurism, and had filmed a child asleep on a bed.

In January he pleaded guilty at York Crown Court to the following offences, which took place between June 2014 and July 2019:

• Sharing two indecent Category A videos of a child

• Sharing five Category C images of a child

• Making 247 Category A images and 243 Category A videos of children

• Making 342 Category B images and 186 videos of children

• Making 2,608 images and 35 Category C videos of children

• Taking an indecent photo of a child in York

• Eight counts of voyeurism

Smith was also subject to a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders' register, police said.

"When the evidence of his offending was presented to him during the investigation, Bradley Smith initially claimed he was only interested in adult pornography and that the indecent images of children were downloaded accidently," Mr Allenby said.

However, the force could prove beyond doubt that he was a "serious offender", he added.