July 2019 Stoke hospital surgeon spared jail over child abuse images Paedophile surgeon Cristian Bogdan has been spared jail – despite possessing 37,840 indecent images of children. The 42-year-old resigned from his position as a cardio-thoracic surgeon at the Royal Stoke University Hospital after his home was raided on December 1, 2017. Police officers searched his Partridge Close home, in Congleton, and inspected 33 electronic devices. They contained a whopping 125,246 images – with police only assessing 37,840 of them. Now Bogdan has been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for the next 10 years after admitting two counts of making indecent images of children, one of possessing indecent images of children, and a final charge of possessing prohibited images. Prosecutor Simon Duncan told Chester Crown Court: “Some of the images were of children aged between four and six while others were aged six to eight. Each film involved a girl aged 14. “The defendant actively searched for child abuse images and had a huge collection” The court heard Bogdan started downloading the images in January 2014. The 2017 raid triggered a 13-month police investigation before Bogdan confessed to his crime through a pre-prepared statement. Peter Wright QC, representing Bogdan, told the court his client has since resigned from his consultant role and undergone a course at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to try to address his offending. He said: “He is of previous good character with a distinguished medical career that is now utterly destroyed. “He has been ostracised professionally, socially shamed, and is ashamed by his conduct. But he does not want to minimize or excuse that conduct – his downfall is his own making. “The people pictured are the victims and he realises that, and he is determined to correct this as much as he can.” Bogdan, who now lives in Macclesfield, has been handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He must also complete 35 days of rehabilitation activity and 150 hours unpaid work and pay £617 costs. He will be subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Recorder of Chester, Judge Steven Everett, said: “It is really important to get across to you, and people like you, that these are not just images but real people, they involve young children who have been sexually abused. “Whatever you were doing at the time, you must have realised what you did. The stress of being a consultant may be part of it, but that is no excuse. “You showed you are not fit to be a doctor, no-one can trust you with any person, let alone a child. You should never be allowed near patients again.” April 2019 Macclesfield surgeon admits downloading thousands of child sex abuse images A surgeon from Cheshire has admitted downloading, making and viewing thousands of indecent images of children. Cristian Bogdan, 42 and a cardio thoracic surgeon at the Royal Stoke Hospital, pleaded guilty to the offences today, Thursday, April 25, at Chester Crown Court. Bogdan, now of London Road in Macclesfield, will be sentenced on Friday, May 24. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) authorised the charges based on a total of 13,096 still pictures and two videos depicting sexual child abuse, as well as the 9,742 sexual child abuse cartoons were also found on computers at his home. Bogdan was arrested on December 1, 2017, by officers from Cheshire police’s Paedophile and Cyber Investigation Team. In a search of his home, officers found several IT devices storing thousands of indecent images of children. Initially Bogdan made no comment but on January 9, this year, he went to Macclesfield Police Station with a prepared statement admitting downloading, viewing and searching for indecent images of children. A CPS spokeswoman said further investigation proved he had actively searched for the images. Speaking after the guilty pleas were entered, Damion Lloyd of Mersey Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service said: “At work Bogdan held down a difficult and respected job. “At home he was searching for and downloading thousands of images of children being sexually abused. “In interview he tried to downplay the amount of images he had, claiming he’d downloaded them in bulk and deleted most of them but it was clear that he was continually actively seeking out these dreadful images of abuse. “He had no previous convictions and had a responsible job yet he risked all of that in the pursuit of these crimes. “Sexual abuse has a dreadful impact on victims and the sexual abuse of children can have long lasting effects for the rest of their lives. “To view the images of this abuse and to make images of it is a crime and the Crown Prosecution Service, working with the police, will do all we can to bring the perpetrators to justice.”