LONDON (CP) - A British astrophysicist with the University of Lethbridge has been sentenced to 15 months in an English jail after he was caught taking indecent photos of children near one of London's most popular landmarks.
Robin Phillips appeared in a courthouse in South London on Tuesday after pleading guilty in early October to four charges including taking indecent images of children and possessing indecent images of children.
Phillips, a 33-year-old father of two, entered the courtroom in a dark grey suit, accompanied by his parents and wife, Barbara, who have stood by his side since his arrest on Aug. 27.
Philips was arrested in Trafalgar Square after police in civilian clothing caught him taking photographs up the skirts of young girls climbing on the square's famous bronze lions. After his arrest, he told police he'd downloaded thousands of similar images onto his computer from the Internet.
Police searched his parent's home in southwest England and seized a computer on which they found close to 500,000 indecent images of children.
Upon hearing of the case, the University of Lethbridge suspended Phillips, who was due to return to his duties there as manager of a research project in September. The university has launched an internal investigation to determine if any of its own computers were linked to Philips' behaviour in England.
Phillips' suspension means he's not allowed to have any contact with the university. It also means that Phillips, who is not a Canadian citizen, is unlikely to attain a work permit to work in Canada again.
Prosecutor Peter Zinner told the court Phillips admitted he began downloading the images while living in Canada over the past decade.
Phillips showed no emotion as Judge Paul Dodgson said the scale of his actions meant immediate imprisonment.
"I accept you had no physical contact with any young girls, but the taking of pictures such as these exposes them to long term sexual abuse," Dodgson told the court moments before sentencing Phillips to 15 months in prison.
The judge said he would allow the university to extract any research related to his former job before information on the laptop is destroyed.
Zinner told the court he thought Phillips's laptop contained the largest number of child-pornographic photos ever seized by police in the United Kingdom.
Scotland Yard agrees.
"In terms of quantity, we've never come across such a prolific offender," said Dave Roberts of Scotland Yard outside the courtroom.
In addition to his sentence, Phillips is never to be permitted to work with children or juveniles or be in possession of a camera while in public. Phillips has already registered as a sex offender.
Defence lawyer Kenneth Carr said his client was deeply apologetic and knows now that what he thought was "a hobby" was actually a crime.
"His has been a spectacular fall from grace exacerbated by his public humiliation," Carr said.
Phillips and his wife have given up their residence in Alberta.
Due to media attention in both Britain and Canada, Phillips's wife has taken their eight-year-old and 10-month-old children to live in Germany.
