AN ex-police officer who now works as a civilian specialist tackling online sex abusers has pleaded guilty to misusing a computer system on two occasions.

Shaun Storey accessed confidential information on Cleveland Police’s computer network in a bid to help secure his son employment as a police officer.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 57-year-old carried out unofficial checks on January 2 and 22, 2019, to enhance his son’s prospects.

He was due to stand trial charged with two counts of causing a computer to perform a function to secure or enable unauthorised access to a program/data, namely he carried out an unauthorised search of 'Niche' but changed his plea to guilty yesterday morning.

The court heard the former officer worked as a computer specialist for the force before his retirement and then subsequently returned as a staff member working on tracking down online sex offenders.

Tom Mitchell, prosecuting,said Storey worked for the force's Paedophile Online Investigation Team after he retired in 2016.

The court heard that as part of training and expertise the defendant was fully aware of the law surrounding accessing confidential information unless it was for 'legitimate' policing purpose.

He said: "There is guidelines from the force – all information held by Cleveland Police is on a 'need to know basis' not a 'nice to know basis'."

There is clear warnings that criminal action could be taken if people misuse the force's computer systems, he said.

Storey, of Guisborough, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing a computer to perform a function to secure or enable unauthorised access to a program/data.

Kieran Galvin, in mitigation, said his client had a distinguished police career and had continued to work for Cleveland Police throughout the court proceedings.

Judge Jonathan Carroll fined Storey £4,185 and ordered him to pay £1,000 in court costs for searching for his home address and his son to see whether any information was stored that could cause problems ahead of his son's application.

He said: "You well know the very highest standards of integrity are required at all times to do your job. It is also required because we operate a system of policing by consent and they consent to be policed by those they trust and that trust goes to the very core of the job."

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