A SCHOOL’S IT specialist stole naked pictures of his female colleagues after offering to help them with computer problems.

Andrew Baines, 39, of The Willows, Basildon, was jailed for 10 months, after Basildon Crown Court heard how he took 15,000 images from the machines.

The court was told that he “systematically catalogued” the images, with folders named after victims or their body parts.

After Baines claimed that the pictures were not taken for sexual gratification, Judge Shane Collery told him this was “rubbish”.

Daniel Setter, prosecuting, said: “His tasks at the school included helping staff with computer issues. Victims asked him to help with a range of issues and equipment including use of external hard drives.

“He extracted pictures of the women and some were personal images, while others showed family and friends and holidays.

“Some showed the women when they were younger and even teenagers. One woman paid him about £40 for the help and work.

“Some images were of women topless and in their underwear. A total of 15,000 images were found when he was arrested and police raided his home.”

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Mr Setter told the court the victims feared their families finding out and were embarrassed. He also said others suffered loss of sleep and felt betrayed by their colleague.

The school Baines worked at was not named in court.

Mitigating, Sebastian Cox said Baines had suffered depression in the past and admitted his conduct was appalling.

He said: “He accepts it and holds his hands up to what he had done here. There is no suggestion of sharing the images and no intention of this.

“This was a breach of trust of the workers at the school and these were opportunist offences - he did not go out looking to get them.

“He feels terrible and wishes he hadn’t made these women feel like this and hates how he had hurt them.”

Baines was convicted of six counts of causing a computer to perform function with intent to secure and/or enable unauthorised access.

Judge Collery said: “These were professional women who wanted help and nobody would think this would happen to them.

“It’s rubbish that there was no sexual motivation here.”