Paul Clark: Former MP jailed over child abuse images
May 15, 2023 · By Christian Fuller & Ian Palmer, BBC News for www.bbc.com
Former Labour MP Paul Clark was sentenced to two years and four months in prison
Paul Clark: Former MP jailed over child abuse images
A former Labour MP who shared child abuse material has been jailed.
Paul Clark, who represented Gillingham in Kent for 13 years, was caught with more than 1,400 images on five electronic devices.
During his career, Clark worked as a parliamentary private secretary to deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and education secretary Ed Balls.
At Maidstone Crown Court, the 66-year-old was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.
Following his arrest in May 2021, Clark’s devices were seized for analysis and officers recovered more than 1,400 indecent images of children.
He was subsequently charged with three counts of making indecent images of children and six counts of distributing indecent images of children between April 2013 and May 2021.
Clark pleaded guilty to all charges.
Paul Clark represented Gillingham for 13 years
The court heard that when Clark was arrested, he initially made no comment, but later told officers, “I know why you’re here”, and “I kept telling myself to stop”.
The former politician’s defence barrister, Ronnie Manek KC, said Clark was “a man full of remorse and regret”.
The court heard there was no evidence that any of the offending took place while Clark was in office.
Catrin Attwell from the Crown Prosecution Service’s organised child sexual abuse unit said the examination of Clark’s electronic devices revealed imagery of children as young as three.
“The electronic devices also revealed chatlogs in which Clark discussed his sexual desires, distributed indecent images of children to others for their sexual gratification and used social media to identify and talk to users under the age of 18,” she said.
Clark has also been issued with a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and must sign the sex offenders register.
Danielle Pownall, National Crime Agency (NCA) operations manager, said: “Behind a significant number of images in Clark’s possession was a vulnerable child being abused, just to satisfy paedophiles.
“He helped fuel the sickening trade in this material by downloading the images and sending them on to other offenders. In doing so, he also re-victimised every child.”
Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].
