Primary School caretaker caught with hundreds of indecent images of children on his phone.

School Caretaker Jailed for Child Abuse Images

A primary school caretaker has been jailed for two years after being found in possession of hundreds of indecent images of children, some of which he shared in online chat groups.

Carl Short, 36, was arrested at Pennard Primary School in Swansea last July after police discovered an indecent image of a child had been uploaded to a social networking website linked to his mobile phone number.

When questioned by police, Short initially claimed he was acting as a paedophile hunter, a claim that was dismissed as "absurd" by the judge presiding over his case.

Officers found two mobile phones in Short's possession, one of which contained 15 Category A images, the most serious type, along with 36 Category B and 342 Category C images.

Investigations revealed Short had shared 19 of the images through the messaging app Kik, where he created chat groups under the aliases Taz and The Real Duff Man.

These groups, with names such as 'Candid teen', 'Schoolgirls', and 'Teen share', had between 40 and 50 members and contained conversations where participants discussed age preferences.

Short admitted to setting up the groups and distributing images but initially maintained his paedophile hunter defense.

During sentencing, Recorder John Philpotts said Short's claim of entrapment was "absurd" and that he was "not naive" about the seriousness of his actions.

Short was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and has been disqualified from working with children indefinitely.