Martial Arts Instructor Had 76,000 Sex Pics Of Kids

A Tae Kwon Do master, who taught the martial art to children in schools and church halls, was sentenced yesterday for secretly collecting 76,000 sick sexually-explicit images of youngsters for eight years.

David Crump, 55, tried to kill himself after his fiancé exposed the sordid truth, but the ligature he used to hang himself snapped and his partner came to his aid.

Crump, of Fieldgate Close, Monks Gate, Horsham, West Sussex pleaded guilty to eighteen counts of possessing and making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography on or about March 7.

He is the co-founder of Kent-based Crown Tae Kwon Do, and also taught children in the back garden of his former suburban home in Mount Pleasant, Biggin Hill, Westerham.

Prosecutor Miss Shahnaz Ahmed told Croydon Crown Court Crump's fiancé Natasha Foskett discovered a suspicious link on his computer and told his adult children what she had found.

"The defendant then went to the police and surrendered himself, his hand had been forced, and he told the officers: 'I'm a sick man, I need help.'

"The police then seized a computer tower and laptop."

Officer stopped categorising the images once they had reached 32,981 and 66% of those were at Level One, at the lower end of the scale, but there were 3,707 at Level Four and 383 at Level Five - the most serious.

Crump's lawyer Mr. Robin Ghosh said: "Following two suicide attempts he is on a heavy dose of anti-depressants.

"When the material was discovered he did not want it to go any further, but then he decided he was going to have to face the music."

Crump handed himself into Bromley Police Station, confessed to officers and then moved out of the family home.

"He did not receive any sexual gratification from these images, which he built-up over eight years after a breakdown when he was made redundant.

"It became an addiction and he still stands by that statement today.

"There were also never any suggestions of issues with the children he was teaching during the Tae Kwon Do lessons."

A probation officer who prepared a pre-sentence report felt Crump failed to take adequate responsibility for the offences.

His July wedding was scrapped, however Mr. Ghosh revealed there were hopes his client would re-unite with his ex-partner.

"There are plans for them to re-engage as a family unit."

First-time offender Crump was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to perform 100 hours community service work.

Judge Jeremy Gold QC told him: "This was a depressing obsession with child pornography and extreme pornography.

"You are perpetrating the sexual abuse of children by your actions.

"Your relationship, if not finished, is on hold, you have lost your Tae Kwon Do business and are living an insular life.

"This is an absolutely enormous quantity of material, one of the highest amounts I have ever dealt with. Make sure you keep clear of this filthy material in the future."

Crump must also sign the sex offenders register and a ten-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which restricts his internet use and contact with children, was made.

He must also attend an internet sex offenders treatment programme and was disqualified from working with children.