School caretaker kept thousands of abuse images
A pensioner who was jailed after he was caught with thousands of indecent images of children worked as a janitor at a prestigious school at the centre of a historical abuse scandal, it has been revealed.
Thomas Campbell, 72, was jailed after he admitted possessing almost 7,000 horrific images depicting youngsters as young as two years old being sexually abused by adults.
Campbell used search terms including “pre-teen angels” and “teen dolls” and downloaded more than 1,000 pictures rated as Category A – the worst end of the spectrum.
The OAP was jailed for 18 months and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years after he pled guilty to possessing the child abuse images at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in February 2022.
Now it has emerged Campbell, from Port Seton, East Lothian, was employed as a caretaker at the capital’s exclusive Edinburgh Academy between 2010 and 2012.
Five former teachers were arrested and charged last year in connection with allegations of sexual and physical abuse said to have been carried out at the scandal-hit school.
Broadcaster and author Nicky Campbell is among scores of former pupils who have come forward to claim they were beaten and molested at the private school.
A relative of the convicted sex offender contacted the Edinburgh Academy Survivors Group (EASG) to alert them to his past involvement with the school after watching a BBC documentary on the alleged abuse in December.
A spokesperson for the group said: “They pointed out that he would have had access to children while he worked at the school. They want nothing more to do with him and were concerned that he may have misused his position and harmed a child.”
The EASG group then contacted the school with the new information and it was confirmed Campbell had been employed as a janitor between 2010 and 2012.
An Edinburgh Academy spokesperson said: “The allegations we received on January 23, 2024 were limited but we observed best practice and passed these to the police the next day.”
Campbell pleaded guilty to two offences of possessing indecent images of children between July 17, 2013 and March 22 last year.