A RETIRED vicar has defended a disgraced ex-councillor who was found guilty of collecting child pornography.

Grandfather Keith Rogers, from Birch Coppice, Droitwich, was fined £5,000 by Worcester magistrates, three weeks ago, after police found nearly 2,000 indecent images of children on his computer.

But respected community figure The Rev Ronald Waters has claimed that Mr Rogers had done nothing wrong.

Mr Waters, who has been at the forefront of several high-profile campaigns in Droitwich, even went as far, in his defence of "his good friend", as to compare images of children with Page Three newspaper photographs.

"I have neither seen nor heard evidence that Mr Rogers has committed heinous sins or crimes," said Mr Waters.

"Keith is a good friend of mine and he is a straight and sincere guy who is to be trusted.

No different

"And while there is no room for being soft, a lot of men look at Page Three pictures in newspapers and this is really no different.

"Keith is obviously attracted to studying the female form and child form, but I think it is only when we take action that it is terrible - when our appreciation of beauty attacks the personality.

"Keith says his interest in the photographs was artistic and not sexual, and only he knows what that meant to him.

"But I think the human body, like the animal kingdom, is breathtakingly beautiful. A growing child, a flowering girl and a boy in youth, are beautiful."

Mr Waters, a former congregational minister, slammed the people who make the images, but also went on to condemn some children for the way they dress.

"The fact someone downloads these things means it does become part of highway peddling and encourages people in the business. But all it comes down to is love of all humans.

"I also think some teenagers cross the border of what to wear. I remember a court report of a man who indecently assaulted a teenage girl.

"I saw that girl earlier the same morning and she had a minimum of clothing on and she should have been at school."

The United Reformed Church, which was formed in 1972 by the union of the Congregational Church in England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church of England, condemned Mr Waters' comments.

"We wholeheartedly support the police and authorities in bringing to justice anyone who takes part in the vile trade in pornographic images of children," said a senior spokesman.

"Such images, like other forms of pornography, degrade children and young people and child pornography has no place in a decent and caring society."

Nia Quinlan, co-ordinator of the Worcestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre condemned Mr Waters' views. She said research suggested some paedophiles used pornography as a step to break down social inhibitions that stopped them from attacking children.

Worcestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre's helpline number is 01905 724514.

What do you think of Mr Waters' views? Contact our newsroom on 01905 742263 or email: sb@thisisworcester.co.uk