Paedophile police officer jailed after downloading child sex attack images

A paedophile police officer has been sent to prison after accessing online images of child sex abuse.

David Reilly, 39, viewed pictures and films of children being sexually assaulted for more than six years while serving in the Ministry of Defence police force.

Much of the material was classified as Category A, covering the most extreme type of images, including child rape and torture.

Reilly was caught late last year and last week a judge jailed him for 12 months, adding: “You actively accessed images involving children in young age groups of the worst possible type.”

Reilly, from Kilmarnock, served with Strathclyde Police before later moving to the Ministry of Defence Police, who guard the nuclear submarine facility at Faslane.

He sought out the material from other paedophiles in internet chat rooms.

Social workers condemned Reilly’s attitude and lack of insight into his crimes – with his own defence lawyer admitting his client “lost his temper with them”.

Their report to the court was so critical Sheriff Alistair Watson said he was “quite taken aback” when he read it.

They raised concerns about the dad’s family and young child, but the former police officer insisted his interest was “confined entirely” to the online world.

He also initially claimed he didn’t get sexual gratification from the images he viewed, but admitted in court this was not true.

Defence lawyer Greg Farrell said his client had not been “entirely forthcoming” with social workers, and “accepts that he was defensive”, adding: “He became, on at least one occasion, hostile.”

Mr Farrell said Reilly’s police officer wife was standing by him, adding: “When he says that his family support him, he is at pains to point out that that does not mean in any way that they condone his behaviour.

“Far from it. They are appalled and shocked at his behaviour.”

He said Reilly would never again hold the responsibility and trust he once had, with the former police officer describing his own behaviour as “vile”, “dreadful” and “appalling”.

Reilly initially began viewing the images “as a result of incidents that happened to him when he was a young child”, but accepted it went beyond this and he became addicted. Alcohol had also played a part as a “disinhibitor”.

The court heard Reilly has since suffered from depression and has been involved with Stop it Now, a charity which works to prevent child sexual abuse.

His lawyer added: “Mr Reilly is under no illusions about the gravity of the situation in which he finds himself.

“He asks that the court consider the alternative (to prison), no more than that – because he does not seek in any way to diminish the seriousness of these offences.”

Jailing him, Sheriff Watson said: “The images you had were high in number, and quite a significant number fell into Category A – the most heinous category.”

He added there was “a lack of insight” shown in Reilly’s social work report, adding: “You make it difficult for me to give you much credit for remorse.”

But he said Reilly had taken “meaningful” steps towards addressing his behaviour.

The former police officer was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years, with his 18-month jail sentence reduced to 12 months due to an early admission of guilt.

Reilly resigned from the Ministry of Defence after first being suspended by the force when the allegations came to light.

A spokesman for the MoD said: “The Ministry of Defence Police expects all its officers to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and integrity at all times.

“We take a zero tolerance approach to criminal behaviour like this and will always deal with such allegations robustly.

“This officer is no longer serving with the force.”