September 2010 Jailed paedo gets to keep his £10k RAF pension A CHILD sex predator set to leave jail in weeks has been told he will KEEP his Armed Forces pension. Pervert Colin Thornley, 64, served his country for 27 years before retiring as an RAF sergeant in 1993. But in 2001 he was unmasked as a serial paedophile who preyed on children as young as SIX and was caged for 15 years. Now Thornley, from Cannock, Staffs, is due for release — and will retire on about £10,000 a year. His windfall comes despite the Ministry of Defence being warned it faces budget cuts of up to 20 per cent. Last night one of his victims said: “It’s an absolute disgrace that this man can retire in comfort after what he did. “I spend every day fearing that he will come after me again.” Thornley, known as a keen amateur photographer, was arrested after a tip-off. Cops found 70,000 vile photos in his house, alongside 3,750 videos of kids being tortured and abused. He admitted 22 indecent assaults and four rapes of children from 1981 to 1984. But there are NO rules allowing an Armed Forces member to be stripped of a pension if convicted of a criminal offence after they leave the service. An MoD spokesman said: “Pensions can only be stopped for treason, mutiny, or breach of the Official Secrets Act.”