Jailed: Leeds scout leader with stash of child abuse pictures on his PC

Peter Slater was arrested after police executed a search warrant at his home and seized equipment from the property in Rawdon.

It is understood Slater was a scout leader at Headingley St Chad’s scout group when he was arrested in October last year.

Slater said to officers when they knocked on his door: “It’s about the child porn isn’t it?

“It’s all there, so I won’t be able to run scouts again.”

Louise Pryke, prosecuting, said the computer equipment contained a large about of illegal material.

None of the images or movies were linked to his role as a scout leader.

A total of 105 movies were found to be at category A - the most serious level of offending.

Most of the illegal material featured girls aged six and seven years of age.

One movie was more than an hour in length featuring the abuse of a six-year-old.

Slater’s computers were also fitted with file sharing software which enable other people to view the images and movies.

Slater, 31, of Harrogate Road, Rawdon, initially refused to comment in interview.

He then said he had accessed the material as a result of trauma he had suffered as a teenager.

He pleaded guilty to three offences of possessing prohibited images of a child, three of making indecent images of a child and distributing indecent images of a child.

Kenton Sergeant, mitigating, said Slater had admitted the offences at an early stage and had paid to attend a programme designed to address his offending behaviour.

Mr Sergeant said: “He has his own difficulties in life and this was an inappropriate way of dealing with them.”

Slater was given a 16 month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to take part in a 60-day activity programme.

Slater must go on the sex offenders register for ten years.

After the case, Detective Inspector Steve Greenbank, of Leeds District Safeguarding Unit, said: “Behind every indecent image of children, like the ones Slater had in his possession, is a child being abused in the real world.

“Those who seek out images of this nature for their own gratification are playing a part in supporting the continuation of that abuse.

“These were internet images and were not related to his role with a local scout group which suspended him immediately at the time of his arrest.”