Febuary 2008 Paedophile sent to jail A thieving paedophile has been jailed for six months after downloading over 200 images of girls as young as eight being sexually abused and stealing more than £35,000 from his employers. Marc Hope, 29, of St George’s Road, Richmond, was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register and banned from owning or using a computer, aside from work, at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday. At an earlier hearing Hope pleaded guilty to downloading 217 indecent images of girls as well as a handful of videos of kids being abused and stealing £35,779 from Nationwide building society branches where he worked. Thirteen of the videos found on Hope’s computer were at grade four – which refers to images of children being sexually penetrated by an adult. The vile catalogue also contained rape footage of girls and one showed sickening abuse lasting more than 33 minutes. Judge Charles Tilling branded the indecent images “appalling”. He was caught after a raid by Feltham’s child abuse team following the interception of a DVD called Miss Jr Beauty Pageant, which had been posted to his home. After he was charged Hope admitted viewing indecent images for a decade. The court heard he had worked for Nationwide since 1998 and between September 2003 and March 2006 while at the East Sheen and Fulham branches he would open the cash machines and help himself to money. Hope initially denied the thefts but later confessed. He has repaid what he stole.