Ex-magistrate spared jail over child porn

Neil Morgan, 58, who was also made an MBE for his charity work, will instead serve a community sentence.

Judge John Crocker, sitting at Isleworth Crown Court in London yesterday, said: "I am not thinking of custody but I want community penalties to be considered and the question of a financial penalty."

As reported in The Argus, Morgan spent much of his career working with children and families. Among his roles was director of family support work for the Chichester Diocesan Organisation.

However, last month, a jury unanimously found the father-of-three guilty on three charges of making indecent photographs of children.

He was convicted by a majority of 10-1 on four more counts. All the offences were committed in November 2001.

Police who raided his semi-detached home on the village green in North Road, Ringmer, near Lewes, found he sought out internet sites on his home computer by typing words like Young Gay Boys and Dutch Boys in a search engine.

The hard drive was found to contain more than 2,000 images, of which 370 were child pornography.

Christine Laing, defending, said: "What appeared to have been accessed were the opening, invitation pages. There was no suggestion of any distribution.

"He is a man who has contributed greatly to his community and therefore has much further to fall than other people. Registration as a sex offender and loss of the opportunity to work with children - something he has devoted his life to."

Ms Laing then referred to an earlier trial relating to events 30 years ago when Morgan was a care worker at Denham Court, a boys' home run by the London borough of Hillingdon.

He was accused of indecent assault but the case was dropped following legal argument.

Ms Laing said: "Despite substantial publicity, not one single hint of a complaint from any of those sources has come to light."

Judge Crocker, who granted Morgan bail, will deliver his sentence at Guildford Crown Court on January 12.