Ex-West Midlands Police inspector handed suspended jail sentence over indecent child images

A shamed former West Midlands Police inspector, sacked for making indecent images of children and guilty of misconduct in a public office by secretly filming a young boy for sexual satisfaction while on duty, has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Lee Bartram had downloaded hundreds of the images and distributed others over a six year period between 2011 and 2017, a judge heard.

The 44-year-old from West Bromwich was caught out after downloading some of those images featuring eight to 14-year-olds via the Tumblr website on May 15 last year, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

This was followed by a police raid on his home on August 13 during which his lap top and mobile phone were seized for analysis.

Chief Constable calls for sentence review

The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Dave Thompson, has today called for the sentence of former Inspector Lee Bartram to be reviewed.

Mr Thompson said: “Lee Bartram was yesterday sentenced to 16 months in jail, suspended for two years, having been convicted of possessing indecent images of children and misconduct in a public office.

“The public expect the protection of the police and do not expect officers to break the law. This case is very serious and the sentence, in my view, is too lenient for such crimes.

“West Midlands Police officers are today discussing the sentencing decision with the Crown Prosecution Service and the subject of an appeal against his sentence."

The process to strip Bartram of his police pension has also begun.

Background to the case

Bartram cooperated with the officers giving them passwords to his various devices and gave an interview that his barrister described as 'probably the most honest given by anybody' suspected of this kind of offence.

He admitted he had ruined his life but confessed to being glad to have been caught and explained: "I just don't know where this would have gone," the court heard.

He was concerned it could have led to him indecently touching people or even worse, it was said.

Bartram conceded that internet pornography was his only sexual release.

He also covertly filmed young boys in the street and through the windows of his parents' home.

He was sexually stimulated by young boys and confessed to purchasing childrens' underwear, said Mr Robert Price, prosecuting.

Analysis of the defendant's mobile phone revealed a five-second video clip of a young boy walking down Cannon Street in Birmingham city centre taken for his own sexual satisfaction while on duty on April 13, 2017, continued the prosecutor.

He had been working out of Lloyd House, the West Midlands force HQ that day.

An attempt by Miss Bahia to have the charge dismissed because it was during his lunch break was thrown out by Judge James Burbidge QC.

Several other similar clips covertly shot by the defendant when he was off duty were also stored on the phone along with his recorded voice detailing his sexual thoughts of the young boys he had seen.

He explained: "It would have just been me walking somewhere, seeing something, quickly recording it and carrying on." It was a compulsion, he said.

He was a successful officer who was treated as a role model by some of his colleagues, the court heard. But he was living a lie.

Miss Bahia, defending, revealed: "He gave everything to his work but these offences occurred when he was at home in drink as a social recluse."

The defendant from Bustleholme Lane, West Bromwich, who was dismissed from the police in October last year, pleaded guilty to eight charges of downloading child porn and two of distributing it by reposting images on the internet.

He also admitted misconduct in a public office.

He was given a 16-month jail sentence suspended for two years with a three month night time curfew.

He was also ordered to attend a sex offender treatment programme and was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

Police colleagues: 'Disgusted and sickened'

Judge Burbidge said the offences represented a spectacular fall from grace for a previously well regarded officer and told him: 'You were living a lie'.

He added it was a case where he could 'draw back' from making Bartram go into immediate custody.

West Midlands Police Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said: "Inspector Bartram abused the trust afforded to his position as a police officer.

"Colleagues are disgusted and sickened by his actions. We rightly expect our officers to be exemplary role models.

"There is no place in policing for those who seek to abuse their position and this case illustrates that we will identify and bring to justice anyone who does."