CHILD protection official Jim Gamble has stirred up predictable controversy by arguing that paedophiles who download child pornography should not necessarily go to prison.

To some extent we welcome Mr Gamble's comments because there is an important debate to be had about how paedophiles should be treated.

Mr Gamble, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, believes that offenders who view child pornography could receive a caution instead of being sent to overcrowded jails. They would then be managed within the community.

But what kind of message would that send?

The punishment for actively searching the web for sexual images of children would become no more than a slap on the wrist, and that would diminish the gravity of such an abhorrent offence.

Those who download child porn are responsible for creating a market which leads to terrible exploitation of children. The only way to save those children from being abused is to strive to remove that market.

Those who involve themselves in child pornography must be left in no doubt about the seriousness of their actions.

Paedophilia will never be completely stamped out. It will be an on-going battle to root out offenders and a strong deterrent is vital.

Society must not waver in the message that it sends out: Child abuse will not be tolerated in this country - and those who take part in it face being sent to prison.