A PAEDOPHILE youth volunteer has been spared jail after discussing sexual fantasies he was having about teenage boys online, whilst he was on an outdoor weekend with them.

David Shelton, 45, of Beech Avenue, Halstead, has admitted making indecent images of children, one of which he inadvertently showed to a group of teenage boys and girls when on an activities weekend in Cumbria.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Friday that Shelton was on a trip with the youth group, in November 2014, to Cumbria as a volunteer, where upon showing three teenagers pictures on his laptop from their day’s activities, he scrolled onto one of a naked man, which the children then reported to their group leader.

Subsequent police investigations of Shelton’s laptop discovered he had Skype conversations with another man during the trip, where he shared pictures of and discussed his sexual fantasies of teenagers he was looking after.

Judge Jonathan Seely told Shelton he had committed “a gross abuse of trust” against the teenagers.

Shelton was handed four months imprisonment suspended for two years, 180 hours of unpaid work, 15 days rehabilitation and will be the subject of a sexual harm and prevention order indefinitely.