A RESPECTED St John's Ambulance worker who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young boy avoided jail after he convinced a judge he wanted help for his paedophilia.

James Hore

A RESPECTED St John's Ambulance worker who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young boy avoided jail after he convinced a judge he wanted help for his paedophilia.

Toby Moncaster sexually assaulted the youngster on various occasions between November 2007 and December the following year.

Moncaster, 33, asked the boy - who was known to him - to keep quiet about what was happening but the youngster confessed to his mother that he had been abused.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard yesterday that Moncaster, who lives in Layer Marney, near Colchester, was a respected member of the St John's Ambulance and the organisation even paid for him to receive counselling after his actions came to light.

Cyrus Shroff , prosecuting, said the victim - aged under 13 - tried to stop the attacks but Moncaster continued with them.

When the boy found courage to tell his mother what had been happening police were called and a laptop containing 29 indecent images of children was also found.

Moncaster claimed his state of mind stopped him remembering details of each attack but he admitted he was sexually gratified.

Mr Shroff said Moncaster felt both “horror and relief” when his actions came to light because he wanted to get help.

Nicola May, mitigating, said the offences took place “almost without his conscious mind being aware” and said Moncaster “could not offer any clear answers” why he had done it.

She said Moncaster's monthly counselling sessions had been paid for by St John's Ambulance, although he has now quit the organisation.

Judge Christopher Ball QC, said: “The indecent assaults - whilst more than trivial - nonetheless stopped well short of the gross form of indecency that the court often has to deal with.”

He said Moncaster was unlike many other paedophiles who come before the court because he had remorse for what he had done.

Judge Ball said sentencing guidelines suggested Moncaster should get 16 months in prison - however, he was “convinced” that was not the best long-term solution.

Instead he sentenced the defendant to a three-year community order, with three years supervision and placed him on a sex offenders' treatment programme.

Moncaster was also placed on the sex offenders' register for five years and banned from working with under-16s for five years.

He also has to pay �1,000 towards prosecution costs and was ordered to pay �1,000 for recovery of defence costs.

Moncaster had pleaded guilty to five sexual assaults on a child under 13 and one count of possession of indecent images at an earlier hearing.