A FORMER West Midlands police officer from Solihull has avoided jail after making indecent photographs of children.
Instead, James Duffield was handed a suspended jail sentence.
Duffield, of Warwick Road, previously admitted three counts of making indecent images of children online between December 2013 and August last year.
The 34-year-old was handed a 12 month jail sentence on Wednesday (January 10) suspended for two years, by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court.
The former response officer based in Birmingham was arrested at his home by specialist detectives from the force’s Online Child Exploitation Team as part of an intelligence-led policing operation in August last year.
Duffield was dismissed without notice by West Midlands Police at a misconduct hearing in November.
An NSPCC spokesman said: “Each of the horrific images Duffield viewed is a crime scene, with children being subjected to the most appalling abuse.
“With every click on this sickening material, he has helped feed a digital industry in child abuse imagery and has also increased the demand for more innocent children to be abused.
“To fight this vile trade, the NSPCC is calling on technology companies, government and law enforcement agencies to stop child abuse images and videos from being published and ensure they are quickly removed when they do appear online.”
The child protection charity also said: “Duffield was looking at the worst kind of child abuse imagery – material which showed incredibly vulnerable children being subjected to the most horrific acts.
“These are real victims who have gone through hell and who now must live with the life-long damage child sexual abuse can cause.
“As a police officer, Duffield would have known that by possessing these awful images he has helped to fuel an industry which feeds off children’s suffering.
“Every time someone clicks on this material, the demand for more children to be abused increases.”
Any adult worried about a child can call the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, while children can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or www.childline.org.uk.
