Former GP and paediatrician caught with 1.2 million child sexual abuse images jailed for two years

A former GP and paediatrician caught with one of the largest ever hauls of child sexual abuse images has been jailed for two years and two months.

David Shaw, 48, from Taunton, Somerset, was found in possession of more than 1.2 million indecent images of children, having used anonymous sharing techniques on peer-to-peer sharing network Freenet to try to hide his activities.

Shaw, who practised as a GP between 2005 and 2013, was arrested at his former home in Maidstone, Kent, in February 2019 after officers at the National Crime Agency (NCA) managed to establish his identity.

Forensic examination showed 16 of his seized electronic devices were found to contain 1,278,256 indecent images of children in categories A to C, with A being the most severe. When the categorisation was explained to him, Shaw told officers that all three categories would all be found on his devices.

When interviewed, Shaw admitted he had been downloading indecent images of children since 2005, and had been expecting a visit from law enforcement at some point.

He described himself as a ‘criminal’ and a ‘bad’ person, and admitted to being sexually attracted to pre-pubescent girls. Shaw added that he became depressed when he tried to stop viewing indecent content and he stopped working as a GP at this point.

The 48-year-old was charged with three counts of making and possessing indecent images of children and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court on 18 October last year.

He was sentenced at the same court on Wednesday (22 February) to two years and two months in prison, and was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Issuing the sentence, HH Judge Saxby said that as a specialist in paediatrics, Shaw more than others would have been aware of the harm inflicted on the children in the images he downloaded.

NCA Senior Investigator Tony Smith 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.”

If you think you or someone you know has been a victim of child sexual abuse, you should report it to your local police on 101 or call 999 in an emergency.

Help and advice for children, parents and carers from the NCA’s CEOP Education Team can be found on thinkuknow.co.uk.