THE former chairman of the charity Wiltshire Mind has been spared a jail sentence despite pleading guilty to downloading thousands of images of child pornography from the internet.

Paul Corbyn, 44, was sentenced to two years' com-munity rehabilitation, formerly known as probation, during which he will be required to attend the Thames Valley sex offender programme.

His name will remain on the sex offenders' register for five years.

He pleaded guilty to six charges of downloading pornographic images from the internet and sending them to another person.

Judge Keith Cutler told Corbyn that what made his offences so serious was that the children portrayed were from eastern Europe where families are so poor they are forced to use their children to earn money by posing for indecent pictures.

But he said that the pictures he had been shown, which had been downloaded by police from the hard drive of Corbyn's computer, were "very far from the worst images I have had to view in recent years".

He said Corbyn, of Moonrakers, Devizes, had already been punished as a result of his offences by the loss of his job, and the good opinion of his friends and acquaintances.

Mind is the leading mental health charity in England and Wales.

Corbyn, who refused to comment following the hear-ing, was responsible for co-ordinating the work of the charity in Wiltshire.