A doctor has been struck off after he downloaded a photo of a two or three year old girl being raped.
Dr David Walker had more than 1,300 images of children being sexually abused on his laptop and phone.
The material included 154 'Category A' images, the most serious, which involve penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism.
He had tried to cover up his internet activity with computer clean-up software but pleaded guilty to three counts of making an indecent photograph or pseudo photograph of a child after police discovered the evidence on his devices.
Dr Walker claimed he did not download the images for any sexual gratification, but was handed a two year community order and a five year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Now he has been struck off after the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled his fitness to practice was impaired.
The tribunal heard Dr Walker qualified in August 2020 from Kings College London and was due to commence his first foundation year as a doctor in training when allegations against him came to light.
On 30 April 2020, police officers from the Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Unit visited Dr Walker’s home in London with a search warrant because of suspicious internet activity linked to an IP address connected to Dr Walker.
He was at home with his partner at the time.
Dr Walker initially told police his computer had been hacked but his laptop and mobile phone were seized and taken away for analysis.
He said he downloaded images using Snapchat and Dropbox links but denied having any sexual attraction towards children.
Analysis of his laptop discovered 154 Category A images, 241 Category B images, and 966 Category C images. On the mobile phone were two still and four moving Category B images, and 46 Category C images.
The tribunal heard the ages of the children in the images ranged from around two or three years old to up to 13 or 14 years old. One of the photographs showed the rape of a girl aged two or three years old.
In July 2021 at South East London Magistrates’ Court, Dr Walker was sentenced for three counts of making an indecent photograph or pseudo photograph of a child, to which he had pleaded guilty.
He was handed a 24-month Community Order and ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work and attend 60 hours of rehabilitation.
The tribunal heard 'these were not victimless crimes' as 'every image accessed by Dr Walker was of a real child being abused, and the offences committed by Dr Walker only served to encourage and perpetuate the continued abuse of children'.
Tribunal chair Charles Thomas ruled he should be struck off for his 'deliberate and premeditated' actions, adding: "His actions in obtaining and viewing such material, helped to fuel the demand that caused people to carry out such sexual abuse and create the sort of images involved.
"The offences were not an isolated incident but were part of a course of conduct that Dr Walker had carried out over a period of time."
