Second scout man's child porn disgrace

Peter Almond, 42, who was an assistant Scout leader at 2nd Goring Scouts, pleaded guilty at Chichester Crown Court on Friday to 11 counts of making indecent photographs of a child and four counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child.

Almond, who was given the Chief Scout's Commendation for Good Service in 2000/2001 and had been involved in the movement since 1984, is the second Scout leader in two weeks to plead guilty to child porn charges.

Andrew Dart, 34, of Melbourne Road, Goring, a former shop manager in Arundel, pleaded guilty at the end of last month to five counts of making indecent photographs of children and 10 counts of possessing indecent photographs of children. A total of 3,700 images were found on his computer.

Dart escaped jail and was given a community punishment order and put on the sexual offenders' register for five years.

Police say the cases are not linked, although both men were prosecuted as a result of the UK's largest ever police hunt against internet paedophiles '“ Operation Ore.

A Worthing-based police officer, who deals with people on the sexual offenders' register, said: "These two cases are a coincidence and the situation is the two Scout leaders just happen to have appeared at court at around the same time.

"These cases are as a result of Operation Ore and global co-operation over internet abuse. There is no need for paranoia, as these cases are just a coincidence."

Almond, of Shaftesbury Road, Rustington, pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent photographs of a child between September 21, 2002, and November 24, 2004, and five counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child on November 24, 2004.

The pictures he had in his possession included 225 level one, 66 level two and four level four images.

Level one is posed images with no sexual activity.

Level two is sexual activity between children or solo sexual act by a child.

Level three is non penetrative sexual activity between adults and children.

Level four is defined as penetrative sexual activity between children and adults.

Level five is sadism or bestiality.

Almond's case was adjourned for sentencing until September 2.

Sue Lumbard, prosecuting, said she would ask the judge for the computer equipment to be destroyed at the sentencing hearing and for Almond to be banned from working with young children.

Selwyn Shapiro, defending Almond, said: "Mr Almond is a family man and as a result of what has happened there has been a fracture in the family."

He was released on bail.

Almond's actions have been condemned by The Scout Association, which said he was suspended from the movement in December 2004, once the allegations came to light.

Michele Hatwell, of The Scout Association, said: "We aware of the police investigation of Mr Almond relating to downloading images from the internet. Action was taken to prevent his further involvement with the movement as soon as the allegation was reported.

"The Scout Association condemns the actions of Mr Almond. There is no place in the Scout movement for anyone who seeks to harm young people by downloading indecent images from the internet.

"Scouting is a values based organisation, which works for and on behalf of its youth members."

According to Ms Hatwell, all volunteers who may have unsupervised contact with youth members are required to undergo a rigorous vetting and appointment procedure. And The Scout Association carries out over 60,000 Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks each year.

She said there were also procedures in place, which required all adults in the Scout movement to report any concerns they may have about other adults. All criminal allegations are referred to the police and the Scout Association will always co-operate fully with the investigating authorities.