A Roman Catholic priest who was spotted by a train passenger looking at child porn on his laptop computer was spared a jail sentence today.
Alexander Bede Walsh, 51, former priest at St John The Evangelist church, Banbury, in Oxfordshire, was spotted by a passenger on a train looking at a ?depraved? fantasy story, Oxford Crown Court heard.
He later admitted 18 counts of making indecent pictures and one of possessing them. All the offences related to a two to three week period in March last year.
Imposing a two-year community rehabilitation order, Judge Julian Hall credited Walsh as an ?intelligent? and ?thoughtful? man, adding: ?Your offending lies right at the bottom end of the scale.
?It is the more shocking because of your position, but that is not a reason for a more severe punishment.?
When told how Walsh, of Cheadle, Staffordshire, had worked tirelessly in his community for 25 years, the judge remarked: ?It is difficult to imagine a more admirable and productive life.?
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4011315