A SURREY County Council child protection officer has been exposed as a paedophile after he was caught with more than 100 indecent images of children and a carrier bag full of girls’ underwear.

Social worker Jonathan Ward, 46, was handed a suspended jail term and ordered to complete five days’ community service at Hove Trial Centre last week after pleading guilty to six charges of downloading images of children.

Ward, who joined Surrey’s specialist child protection unit after a 16-year stint at Brighton and Hove City Council came to an end in 2015, was arrested last December after police raided his home in Hove following a tip-off.

Two laptops seized by police were found to contain more than 100 disturbing images of children, including many in the most serious category. Police also discovered a carrier bag full of girls’ knickers and a stash of pornographic DVDs.

Judge Paul Tain, according to The Argus newspaper, told Ward: “We take the view that people who support the degradation of children through downloading images participate in the crime and participate in the abuse.”

Ward was handed a seven-month jail term, suspended for two years, plus 120 hours’ unpaid community service.

He was also ordered to undertake a rehabilitation course, pay £340 costs, and was handed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention order severely limiting his internet use and contact with children.

A Surrey County Council spokesman said following the case: “Mr Ward was suspended as soon as these allegations came to light and has since been dismissed. The offences are unrelated to his work.”

Sussex Police added in a statement: “None of the images, taken from the internet, are believed to be of children known to Ward and there is no evidence of physical contact offending.”