THE former deputy headmaster of a Catholic primary school from Crewe who downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children and attempted to groom young boys online has been sentenced.

Anthony Hassall, 35, of Nelson Street, Crewe, pleaded guilty to receiving and saving 697 indecent images of young boys at Chester Crown Court on August 20.

Hassall was deputy head at St Joseph’s Primary School in Winsford. Officers from the Paedophile Cyber Investigation team visited the school and arrested Hassall, who was teaching at the time.

The court heard that Cheshire Police received intelligence from another law enforcement agency that had detected Hassall engaging in conversations on Skype about sex with young boys.

Hassall, who is no longer the deputy headmaster of St Joseph’s primary school, went on chat sites, pretending to be a younger man interested in sex with boys under 10s, the court was told.

Following his arrest, Hassall’s home was also searched and items were sent to the Police High Tech Crime Unit.

His two computers that he used to download the indecent images were also seized and later destroyed.

Hassall was silent in his interview following his arrest, but later made a full confession to engaging in paedophile discussions and receiving images of young children.

Hassall was given a community order for three years and ordered to take part in a sex offenders programme. His address and activities will be monitored by the police for next five years.

A sexual harm prevention order was also issued, which restricts his use of the internet. He is also automatically barred from working with children.

Mike Stephenson, district crown prosecutor for Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Anthony Hassall had a responsible job as a deputy headmaster in a primary school and held a position of trust.

“However, in his spare time he was posing as a much younger man and engaging in conversations about sex with young boys and receiving and saving indecent images.

“The internet appears to provide the screen of anonymity for such activities, but law enforcement scrutinise it intensely and when criminal activity of this sort is uncovered, the trail back to the offenders provides compelling evidence.”