Langham guilty of downloading child porn

Chris Langham has been found guilty of downloading child pornography but cleared of indecent assault.

The Thick of It star was convicted at Maidstone Crown Court on 15 counts of making indecent images of children on Thursday. He was found not guilty of charges of indecently assaulting an underage girl and other serious sexual offences.

He had denied all the charges and said he looked at the pictures as research for a paedophile character in BBC comedy Help.

But the actor, from Kent, also accepted that he had broken the law and said he had been "arrogant" in his actions.

Following the verdict, Ken Goss, Crown Prosecution Service spokesman, said it was right Langham was convicted for the pornography offences.

He said: "The images found on his computer were not child pornography, they were horrific images, stills and video clips, of children being sexually abused.

"These pictures do not pop up accidentally on your screen or by any other means. You have to make that conscious effort to click on the button and download them."

Judge Philip Statman warned Langham, who was remanded in custody, that he could face jail after he is sentenced on September 14.

Langham had been accused by a woman whom he used to teach acting of taking her virginity when she was 14.