A male NHS midwife caught with hundreds of child sex abuse images walked free from court yesterday.
Scott Butler, 39, was found to have more than 400 indecent images of children as young as four on his devices, as well as extreme pornography depicting rape, strangulation and sex with animals.
Police dramatically swooped on Butler's workplace, St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London, to arrest him on December 3 last year.
Scott Butler, 39, (seen outside court yesterday) was found to have more than 400 indecent images of children as young as four on his devices
The judge who yesterday sentenced him to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months at Inner London Crown Court said a reference letter written by his partner had saved him from jail.
Butler had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images.
The experienced midwife, who studied nursing at Coventry University in 2004, was caught after police traced sick internet uploads back to his personal devices.
Upon searching his flat in Lambeth, south London, detectives found 366 indecent videos of children and 77 photos on his mobile phone, a hard drive and a Toshiba laptop.
Some of the images were Category A – the most serious possible, the court heard.
Judge Mr Recorder Michael Wood QC said it was a shame Butler would never be able to work in his role again amid a shortage of midwives.
'This is a real tragedy for so many people,' he said.
'You qualified as a midwife and will never be able to work in this role again.
'It is a shame, not just for yourself but for the community as a whole as I understand there is a desperate shortage of midwives.'
He added: 'As you have said, you were falling down a slippery slope and things became worse and worse.
'These images are of real and vulnerable children and females who are threatened or coerced into these acts.
'There is a world out there in which women and girls are forced into performing extreme acts that are not only degrading but are painful and dangerous.'
A spokesman from St George's NHS Trust said Butler was suspended immediately when the allegations came to light, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council was notified
Mr Recorder Wood said the offences crossed the custody threshold but he took into account
