Growing numbers of armed forces personnel are being investigating for viewing child sex abuse images, figures reveal. Military police have investigated more than 100 cases in the past four years. The average of 25 a year is up from the nine investigations carried out in 2017. Most cases involve soldiers, but incidents in the RAF and Royal Navy have also been recorded. Experts fear that many of those committing offences may have been victims of abuse themselves. A Ministry of Defence source said all 21 service personnel facing a court-martial for such offences had been found guilty. Offenders are usually imprisoned and booted out of the armed forces. Others have been subject to criminal prosecutions. Anyone found guilty of a sex crime is now automatically dismissed, thanks to a rule change in April. Anyone found guilty of a sex crime is now automatically dismissed ( Getty Images/iStockphoto) Our source said: 'This [child sex abuse images] is a major problem for the armed forces because it is wrongly seen as victimless because the perpetrator is viewing an image. Images can easily be shared with civilians or other members of the armed forces. 'The majority found in possession of images plead guilty because they have no credible defence.' Cases include a Royal Navy Lieutenant who avoided a prison sentence despite being found with thousands of sexual images of children on his PC. James Smith, then aged 38, pleaded guilty in 2019 to making indecent images of children. The judge at his trial said that he was given a suspended sentence because Smith had made efforts to address his sexual urges. RAF medic Luke Childs, 34, was given a four-year sentence after being arrested when he had been tried to meet a 14){kind=link}
Experts fear that many of the soldiers, including some RAF and Royal Navy offenders, have been victims of child abuse themselves as the number of cases being investigated rises
Growing numbers of armed forces personnel are being investigating for viewing child sex abuse images, figures reveal.
Military police have investigated more than 100 cases in the past four years.
The average of 25 a year is up from the nine investigations carried out in 2017.
Most cases involve soldiers, but incidents in the RAF and Royal Navy have also been recorded.