A MUM has blasted the courts after a Minety paedophile found with hundreds of child sex abuse images was told to do just 200 hours’ unpaid work.

Sarah Crompton, whose daughter was in the reception class where paedophile Ritchie Plumb volunteered, hopes an appeal to the Solicitor General will result in a longer sentence for the 37-year-old.

Mum's disgust

Mrs Crompton, a mum-of-four who has lived in Minety for the past eight years, has criticised the sentence as too lenient.

She told the Swindon Advertiser: “It sends the wrong message to paedophiles that they can get away with this behaviour.

“It’s nothing, what he’s got. He’s been given 200 hours in the community. I wouldn’t want him working in my community.

“There’s a lot of shock and disgust. People are very angry and feel let down, because they trusted him.

“This sinister individual has played everyone, trying to be this volunteer when everybody now knows what his motivations were.”

Headteacher at Minety school where paedophile volunteered: 'We're shocked and saddened'

Paedophile Plumb asked authorities to hand back his sex doll

She plans to appeal the sentence, under the government’s Unduly Lenient Sentences Scheme. It could see South Swindon MP Robert Buckland, the Solicitor General, take the fight to extend the sentence to London’s Court of Appeal.

However, she could be disappointed. The lenient sentences scheme does not currently apply to those convicted of possessing indecent images of children.

Mrs Crompton said of Plumb: “This is a man who tried to defend himself to the community on Facebook, saying the child sex abuse images were pop-ups.

“But he’s admitted they were for sexual gratification. The girls in the pictures were five to 11-years-old. The youngest was five.

“My daughter was the same age when she was in the reception class where this man volunteered.

“When the defence barrister read out he had an interest in girls aged between five and 11 my blood ran cold.”

Asked what advice she would give to parents who fear an individual working with their children might want to harm them, she said: “Just believe in what your instincts tell you and take it to the appropriate authorities.”

Mrs Crompton has launched an online petition to gather support for an appeal against what she said was too lenient a sentence. It has been signed by more than 200 people.

Guilty plea

Plumb pleaded guilty to possessing almost 2,000 child sex abuse images. The pictures, stored on his computer, were found by police when they raided Plumb’s home after the Minety Primary School volunteer tried to import a child-like sex doll into the country.

At Swindon Crown Court, first-time sex offender Plumb was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work and 40 rehab days. He was put on a sexual harm prevention order for five years and also told sign the sex offenders’ register.

Judge Jason Taylor QC, who heard the case, decided to pass sentence on the 1,963 less serious child sex abuse images rather than the four pictures in the very worst category. At the hearing he said: “As far as the guidelines for this type of offending are concerned, ordinarily a judge would approach the case with reference to the most serious images.

“To do this in this case would be unrepresentative of this case as your interest is overwhelmingly tilted towards class C images.”

Robert Buckland MP, Solicitor General, said currently cases involving indecent images of children are not covered by the unduly lenient sentences scheme. Mr Buckland said: “We have committed to extending the scheme to more offences and have already done so for terrorism-related crimes."