Assistant headteacher of Wakefield school caught out downloading 11,500 child-abuse images

Gareth Mellor, 43, worked Kettlethorpe High School at the time of the offending, which took place between 2014 and 2021. He appeared at Leeds Crown Court today where he admitted three counts of making indecent child images.

Mellor, who lives on Pennycroft Road, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire downloaded 11,500 indecent images and videos of children in categories A-C, with A being the most serious. There was no suggestion it involved any pupils from his former school.

Tudor Griffiths, headteacher at Kettlethorpe High School, said: “Although the crimes committed by Gareth Mellor have absolutely no connection to our school community, we are appalled at the way he has betrayed the trust placed in him during his time at the school.

“The safeguarding checks and procedures we, and all schools follow, did not identify any concerns. His ability to hide in a position of responsibility is shocking and upsetting.

“We take some comfort in the fact that the National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation found that Mellor’s crimes had no association with any pupils, past or present. However, his crimes have affected the lives of other children and young people and our thoughts are with them.”

He was tracked down by NCA investigators after making a Bitcoin payment for indecent images of children via an encrypted cloud storage service. His email address had been used to set up accounts on other sites in an attempt to acquire abuse material.

In May 2021, officers arrested Mellor at his home address and seized a number of his devices. His phone had cryptocurrency applications installed on it, as well as files associated with the storage platform. He is due to be sentenced on December 7.

Data showed that a second individual had access to one of Mellor’s accounts. He has been identified and is under investigation.

Danielle Pownall, NCA operations manager, said: “Mellor worked with children nearly every day and was entrusted to protect them. He deeply betrayed this trust through amassing a huge collection of material showing the horrific abuse of children.

“Despite his attempts to conceal his activities, this investigation was able to identify him as a committed buyer and consumer of child abuse material."