Disgraced former Dudley councillor gets suspended jail sentence over hundreds of indecent images of boys
A disgraced ex-councillor who took hundreds of indecent images of boys to use in adverts has been spared jail.
Former magistrate Derrick Hemingsley, who represented Wordsley on Dudley Council, took topless photographs of two boys aged under 14.
They were used in adverts and websites to promote his car cleaning products business, Pride and Joy, where they attracted ‘inappropriate remarks’.
A court heard yesterday that Hemingsley paid one of the boys up to £500 for taking part in a shoots. From the 57-year-old’s laptop police recovered 469 ‘category C’ images and 17 videos of the same classification, the lowest level of child pornography.
Hemingsley, of Penzer Street, Kingswinford, pleaded guilty to two counts of taking indecent photographs of children in August.
His pleas were on the basis he had not considered the images to be indecent when he took them, which was accepted by Judge Amjad Nawaz at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.
He sentenced Hemingsley to 10 months in jail, suspended for two years. He must also complete a rehabilitation programme, pay £500 costs and will be on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
The court heard the defendant had been a magistrate, school governor, a church-goer and prospective parliamentary candidate.
Judge Nawaz, said: “All that indicates to me you are someone who had been working for the public. Yours is a spectacular fall from grace.”
Mr Robert Price, prosecuting, said in an interview Hemingsley told police he had to ‘block’ people from viewing his images on Flickr because of a ‘glut of weirdos’ posting inappropriate remarks.
Defending, Mr Simon Hunka, said his client’s business interests had been badly affected by his conviction. After the hearing, Hemingsley, said: “This has been a devastating time for not only me but for my family.”
