Ex-children's GP had 'one of the largest hoard of child sex abuse images seen'
A former children's GP has been jailed for one of the largest hoards of child abuse images detectives have seen.
David Shaw used a site called Freenet to download the sick content, using anonymisation techniques to avoid being traced.
But the 48-year-old from Taunton, Somerset, was eventually discovered by specialist detectives trained to track down offenders online - and found with a staggering folder of more than 1.2m images.
The National Crime Agency, who led the investigation into the depraved former paediatrician, arrested him at his home in Maidstone, Kent, in February 2019, with a search of his house seizing his computer equipment.
Digital forensics detectives discovered 16 folders with 1,278,256 indecent images of children, including 'Category A' level content considered the most serious of all.
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Shaw was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court (PA)Sick Shaw later admitted to police he was attracted to pre-pubescent girls, describing himself as a "criminal" and a "bad" person.
He'd even tried to stop viewing the material, he told police, which he said in turn made him depressed and prompted him to quit his job as a GP.
Shaw was registered with the General Medical Council as a general practitioner between 2005 and 2013, when his membership lapsed.
He admitted in interview he had been watching child abuse material since 2005 and throughout the period he worked as a family doctor.
Shaw pleaded guilty to three counts of making and possessing indecent images of children at Maidstone crown court on 18 October last year, and was jailed yesterday to two years and two months.
Judge Saxby, sentencing him, described the defendant as a specialist in paediatrics who, more than others, would have been aware of the harm inflicted on the children in the images he downloaded.
Tony Smith, from the NCA, said: “This is one of the largest collections of child sexual abuse images that the NCA has ever dealt with, the scale of which was shocking.
“Not only did Shaw abuse his position of trust, he helped fuel the sickening trade in child sexual abuse images by downloading this material, which re-victimises every child.
“Tragically, behind these images are vulnerable children being exploited just to satisfy paedophiles.
“The NCA continues to pursue offenders like Shaw, make them accountable for their actions and to protect victims of online child sexual abuse.”
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Shaw was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
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