Sneinton Vicar Admits Possessing Child Porn - Including Image of a Two-year-old

Nottingham Post
May 14, 2015

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Sneinton-vicar-admits-possessing-child-porn/story-26494353-detail/story.html

Rev Andrew Waude leaves Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday

The vicar of a Sneinton church has been spared custody after he admitted possessing child porn of children as young as two.

Rev Andrew Waude had been working at St Cyprian's Church, in Lancaster Road as part of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, when he was caught with 476 images and videos.

After pleading guilty at Nottingham Crown Court at an earlier hearing, he was sentenced to a three-year community order and supervision from probation and 250 hours of unpaid work on Wednesday.

The 40-year-old will be subject to a sex offenders' prevention order, must attend a sex offender programme and sign the sex offenders' register.

Sarah Munro, prosecuting, said the majority of images were of ten-year-olds and young adolescents, mainly boys, and there were images of children as young as two.

One image involved a two-year-old involved in sexual activity with a man.

Some videos were of adolescent children playing naked. None of the images were of children he came into contact with and were for private use, not distribution.

Waude, of Marston Road, Carlton, has been suspended from his job.

He was arrested after police acted on intelligence that he had purchased a DVD containing indecent images of children from a Canadian website.

Detectives working in Project Spade - an investigation into wide-ranging child abuse - raided his home and found a briefcase containing 27 discs, two laptops, two hard drives and a desktop computer all including offending images.

Detective Constable Steve Cotter, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Nottinghamshire Police is committed to preventing child abuse of all kinds, gathering intelligence from a range of sources and working alongside various partners to bring the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes to justice.

"Tragically, behind each of these images is a victim and we owe it to each and every one of them to ensure that we properly investigate these horrific offences.

"We hope this prosecution gives the public the confidence to come forward and report these offences, with this result serving as a reminder to anyone collecting these images that their offences will not be tolerated."

A spokesman for the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham said: "He remains suspended from all ministerial duties and will be subject to a disciplinary procedure under the clergy discipline measure. The parish continues to be offered pastoral support.

"Diocesan officers are co-operating fully with the police and local authorities and regard safeguarding matters as of the utmost importance.

"The Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham is committed to helping every parish church to be a safe place for all."