University professor Robert Grimshaw admits to child porn shame
A professor who worked at the University of the West of England has admitted having more than 20,000 internet child porn images and videos.
Robert Grimshaw was a professor in facilities innovation and had been director of UWE's Construction and Property Research Centre, part of its School of the Built and Natural Environment, before his arrest in December 2007.
A court heard that the 59-year-old had 20,815 indecent images and videos of children in his possession, of which about 13,000 showed graphic sexual abuse.
He swapped them online with other paedophiles, with whom he also fantasised about child abuse, a judge was told.
Grimshaw yesterday pleaded guilty to 16 specimen charges at Salisbury Crown Court and faces jail when sentenced in March.
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He admitted five counts of distributing indecent photographs of children, 10 of making them and one of possessing them.
Police said three quarters of the images and movies found on the computer at his Wiltshire home involved children under 13 years old ? and the vast majority of the images were of victims aged from a few months old to seven or eight years old.
He became a major player in the child porn 'community', distributing pictures and videos extensively to other paedophiles.
Grimshaw strongly denied actually abusing any children, and said his fantasy bragging in internet chatrooms with other paedophiles was just bravado on his part to help him obtain more images.
After he was arrested and charged, the professor went to extraordinary lengths to prevent his crimes coming to public attention.
He was arrested on December 18, 2007 and left his position at UWE on January 31.
By October, when the father-of-one went back to police to be re-interviewed, he told them he changed his name by deed poll to Joseph Mills and moved from the family home in Ramsbury to an address in Stratton St Margaret, near Swindon.
Police could only conclude he had been thrown out by his wife and that he wanted to avoid the case being linked to his previous life as Professor Robert Grimshaw.
The professor appeared in court under his new name of Joseph Mills.
His case was adjourned by Judge Keith Cutler for sentencing to March 6.
Last night, the University of the West of England declined to comment on the case but confirmed that Professor Grimshaw had stopped working for them on January 31 last year ? six weeks after police raided his home.