Paedophile Suffolk headteacher had one million child abuse images

A primary school headteacher has been jailed after he was found with a one million child abuse images and a "paedophile manual". 

Thomas Singleton, 41, was arrested last February after accessing illegal files online.

The teacher had also created "deep-fake" style pictures, superimposing himself into photos so it looked like he was engaging in sexual activity with children.

Specialist National Crime Agency investigators searched his home in Suffolk and discovered laptops and hard drives with 1,050,448 indecent images of children, 45,216 prohibited images of children, and 52 extreme pornographic images.

A manual, which detailed how to sexually abuse children without being caught, was also discovered.

Officers also recovered a number of online chat logs in which Singleton spoke with other like-minded individuals about child sexual abuse.

Hand-drawn flow charts linked with documents describing child abuse scenarios were also found in his house.

Singleton - who was the safeguarding lead at his school - resigned as a teacher during the course of the investigation, the NCA said.

He was charged with eight offences, including taking indecent pseudo-images of a child, making indecent images and possession of a paedophile manual.

He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to six years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court. 

He has also been placed on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.

NCA operations manager Michael Parkinson said: “As a safeguarding lead and the head of a primary school, Singleton supposedly represented a dependable figure of safety and trust for young children, their families and the school community.

“This investigation showed he grossly abused that position.

“His house was filled with a large, disturbing collection of items which proved beyond doubt his sexual interest in children.”

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