Teacher who downloaded 100,000 sick child porn pics avoids jail (From Stourbridge News)

Teacher who downloaded 100,000 sick child porn pics avoids jail

10:21am Monday 29th October 2012 in News

Matthew Bullas

A DUDLEY teacher who built up a sick collection of nearly 100,000 pornographic images and films of children after becoming depressed at the end of his relationship has avoided jail time.

Matthew Bullas admitted to police he got gratification from viewing the images at night but stressed he had no sexual thoughts about the children he worked with at Castle High School.

Judge Michael Dudley told the 32-year-old - the son of a retired police inspector - they were extremely serious offences because "real children are abused in the making of these images."

But he ruled he was able to make Bullas the subject of a lengthy community order because it was in the best way to protect the public.

The Wolverhampton Crown Court judge told him: "You have already demonstrated you are prepared to do something about the problem you recognise you have.”

The PE teacher, who was immediately suspended from the St James Road school after his arrest, downloaded around 300,000 indecent images of children but many of them had been deleted - Sati Ruck, prosecuting, said.

She said police searched searched Bullas' former home in The Forge at Halesowen and recovered five memory sticks containing the pornographic images.

They found 98,972 images of children at level one, 269 at level two, 67 at level three and 195 at level four.

He also had 76 indecent moving images at level one.

There were a further 17 moving images at level two, five at level three, seventy four at level four and three at level five - the worst possible category.

Bullas, of Hamilton Drive, Stourbridge, pleaded guilty to nine charges of possessing indecent stills and video images of children and he was given a three-year community order coupled with three years supervision.

He was further told he must attend the Internet Sex Offenders Programme and was barred from ever working with children again.

The judge, who also made him the subject of a ten-year Sex Offenders Protection Order, told Bullas he must register as a sex offender for five years and pay £425 costs.

He added: "You have let yourself down over these offences. My principle duty is to do the best I can to protect the public."

Mrs Ruck said Bullas, a man of previous good character, told police he was in a relationship that broke down in 2009 and, living alone, he became depressed.

He said he had regularly watched adult pornography but then started looking at younger children as he became more and more used to seeking and downloading from websites.

Danny Smith, defending, said Bullas also had financial problems, and he found it extremely difficult trying to cope with his emotional troubles and that was why he began downloading the indecent images.

He said Bullas, whose brother is also in the police force, had now started rebuilding his life and he was earning £1,000 a month on a self-employed basis working as a courier for a car firm.

Mr Smith said: "He chose this because he has no contact with children and he has been completely frank with his new employer.”