Joshua Pope

Joshua Pope, a 27-year-old former class teacher at Saltash Community School in Cornwall, was struck off the teaching register following his conviction for possessing and making indecent images of children. The case came to light after police investigations revealed that Pope had downloaded a significant number of illegal images over an extended period.

Pope taught at Saltash Community School from September 2022 until May 2023. During this time and prior, he accessed and stored indecent images of children on his electronic devices. Police discovered 276 Category A images, including 210 moving images, 214 Category B images with 127 moving, and 296 Category C images with 25 moving. The downloads spanned many years, continuing up until 5 March 2023. A Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel later determined that his actions were deliberate, repeated, and prolonged over a two-year period, during which he accessed approximately 800 images.

Pope, residing at Lancaster Gardens in Plymouth, was arrested at his home two months after leaving the school. Devon and Cornwall Police seized his personal devices following referrals from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children regarding activity involving the storage and uploading of indecent images to a cloud-based system linked to Pope. In police interviews, Pope initially claimed he had stumbled upon the images accidentally and deleted them immediately. However, he later admitted to clicking on links known to contain indecent images of children over the past two years, describing the downloads as stemming from boredom and loneliness, and claiming he had become desensitised. He insisted he had no sexual interest in children but accepted that the accounts were his and that he had downloaded more material just a week before his arrest.

On 2024-07 (exact date not specified), at Plymouth Crown Court, Pope was convicted on three counts of making indecent images. Judge Peter Johnson sentenced him to eight months in jail, suspended for two years, along with 100 hours of unpaid work. The judge emphasised the severity of Pope's actions, stating: "You have been a party to the sexual abuse of children by creating the demand which leads to these children being abused. It causes them long term harm, not only physical for screamingly obvious reasons but also psychological. It affects their mental health massively. It affects their ability to form relationships. In short, the damage is enduring and is generally permanent." The court detailed the horrific nature of some images, including children being sexually penetrated, to make Pope appreciate the gravity of his offences.

Following his criminal conviction, a Teaching Regulation Agency panel banned Pope from teaching for life after he admitted the allegations. The panel highlighted the deliberate nature of his misconduct, effectively ending his career in education. This case was reported by Cornwall Live on 14 November 2025, drawing attention to the ongoing issue of child exploitation through digital means in the UK.