Liverpool city councillor on 12 child porn charges

Apr 19 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

A LIVERPOOL councillor was last night charged with downloading indecent images of children.

Cllr Ben Williams will appear in court in May accused of 12 counts of making the indecent images over a year-long period.

The 34-year-old was arrested last December by officers from Sefton Family Crime Unit and eight computers were seized in the inquiry.

He answered bail yesterday afternoon and was charged after questioning by detectives.

Cllr Williams is alleged to have made the images between December 13, 2006 and December 17, 2007.

Last night, Cllr Williams could not be contacted for comment but has previously vowed to clear his name. In December, he said: “I have done nothing wrong. Everyone who knows me, knows that I am wholehearted, a community person.”

Cllr Williams agreed to suspend himself from the Liverpool Labour Party while the police investigation was carried out.

He was elected to the council in 2002 to represent Clubmoor and will not be standing in the May elections.

Last night, Labour group leader Joe Anderson said: “I am shocked by the news, due process will take its course and we will see what the outcome is.

“From our point of view, nothing has changed, he’s still suspended from the Labour party.”

Cllr Williams previously told the Daily Post he had been working at Southport’s King George V College in October 2006 when he was accused of using the internet inappropriately.

His employment at the college finished around January 2007.

It is understood the college’s IT department raised concerns about certain words he had typed in a search engine.

The college is thought to have investigated internally but no wrongdoing was found.

It is also understood that following the incident, an agreement was reached that saw Cllr Williams leave the college, and references were given for him.

Speaking earlier to the Daily Post, Cllr Williams declined to go into detail, but added: “I was not dismissed from my job, that’s a fact.

“I was accused of not using the internet properly at work at King George V College. Nothing was ever found on my computer.

“My trade union and I had a long protracted discussion with the college about it.”

After departing from KGV, he had been working as a supply teacher and also at Hugh Baird College in Bootle.

Hugh Baird immediately suspended Cllr Williams when he was arrested last year. “The College naturally had no prior knowledge of the alleged accusation, which apparently occurred over a year ago,” a spokesman said at the time.

In December, Cllr Williams told the Daily Post: “What’s at stake here now is my reputation, and my livelihood is on the line. Because this is going to go on for some time, I can’t possibly stand for election in May.

“But that is not an admission of guilt, I will vigorously fight this.

“I have never tried to hide anything to do with this. What’s most distressing for me is I have a three-year-old daughter – this allegation is destroying me.”

Last night, a Merseyside police spokesman said: “Benjamin Williams, 34, of Norris Green, has been charged with 12 counts of making indecent images of children.”

He is due before South Sefton magistrates on May 8, and has now been released on bail.

davidbartlett