A UNIVERSITY tutor and music festival worker appeared in court yesterday to admit Internet child pornography charges.

Keith Burton, a course tutor in the physics department at York University, who helps run the Harrogate Competitive Festival of Music, Speech and Drama, admitted 16 offences of making an indecent photograph of a child and one of possession of indecent photographs of children.

Alison Whiteley, prosecuting, told magistrates at Harrogate, North Yorkshire, that Burton, 59, was arrested in June as part of Operation Sirdar, the latest investigation into Internet child pornography originally mounted by the United States authorities in 2003.

Mrs Whiteley said investigations at first centred on a Florida company before agents were led to Belarus, where a major facility for Internet images of child abuse was uncovered.

Investigators were led to two specific sites and on June 21 a warrant under the Protection of Children Act was executed at Burton's home in Old Trough Way, Harrogate.

He was arrested and computer equipment was seized.

Mrs Whiteley said that members of a police unit found 2,445 indecent images of children on Burton's computer.

Mrs Whiteley said the prosecution believed Burton should be sentenced by a crown court judge but his solicitor, Clive Farndon, contended that the magistrates' powers - they have a maximum of 12 months in custody available to them - would be sufficient for a man who was previously of exemplary character.

Mr Farndon said only a minority of the images fell at the higher end of the scale and there had been no commercial or distribution elements to Burton's activities.

But the court chairman, Jim Fender, told Burton that because of the kind of images involved he would be sentenced at York Crown Court.

Burton was bailed to appear there during the week beginning November 8.