A MIDDLE-AGED father who has spent the past eight months branded as a paedophile has spoken bitterly about the teenager who he claims tricked him into videoing her.

John Foley, 50, of Corfe Crescent, Calne, was told on Tuesday that charges of taking indecent photographs of a child had been dropped.

"I am just glad my name has now been cleared," said Mr Foley, who has made several court appearances and suffered the backlash of publicity.

His arrest last spring, which came after the girl complained to police, sparked a series of incidents including the arrival of the bomb squad after suspected explosives were found under his sink.

This week Mr Foley claimed he was a victim of his own good nature and the girl had taken advantage of him after she replied to an advertisment to be his lodger in April.

He says the girl, who he believed to be 17 or 18 but in fact was just 15, also volunteered to have a video film taken of her as she undressed.

The day after Mr Foley took the footage he was arrested at work, and had his house raided by police.

On Tuesday the charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service due to lack of evidence and Mr Foley, who admits he videoed the girl, maintains he did nothing morally wrong because he thought she was older.

Mr Foley, who has a 23 year-old daughter, Jeanette and a son, Keith, 28, said that the girl stayed for one night only, after which some things went missing from his house. He didn't see the girl again for six weeks.

"She came back saying the two lads she had had in her room had taken the stuff and she felt terrible. I thought it had taken a lot of guts to come back and admit to that so I said she could live here again.

Some days later Mr Foley said the girl was telling him she had done modelling in the past and he suggested he took some photographs of her.

"I've taken pictures of naked models before and there's nothing wrong with that, but I'm definitely not a paedophile.

"She stripped off in front of me and it was only five minutes' worth of video. I thought I could take some stills off it."

Mr Foley said he paid her £20 and gave the film to the girl for her to keep for herself.

The next day he was arrested where he works at plastics company AEP in Corsham.

Referring to the police search of his house Mr Foley said: "They went through all my videos and everything in the attic but I knew they wouldn't find anything.

"I can't think why the girl went to the police and the only thing I can think was she was after money for criminal compensation or something," he added.

"None of my friends or family ever believed I'd done anything wrong but people who didn't know me would have read it in the paper and I just want to set the record straight," he said.