A DISGRACED former Army sergeant was last night behind bars for sharing pictures of child abuse with a dangerous rapist and other paedophiles.

Domonic Thompson was locked up for nine months – a sentence shorter than he would have got had it not been for his charity work and military service.

He was told by a judge: “You are the sort of person that can be expected to set good examples and when you transgress, the court is left with little alternative.”

Thompson used the name Heavy Rocker to make contact with and share pornographic photographs with paedophiles across the UK on internet chat-room sites.

The secret double-life of the Territorial Army instructor and hospital fundraiser was exposed when police raided his home in Darlington last autumn.

Officers targeted Thompson after discovering he had been corresponding with a man in Wales, who has since been jailed indefinitely for raping a four-year-old girl.

At his home in Kingsway, police found about 1,300 images of child abuse on two computers and evidence of Thompson sharing the vile pictures with others.

The 40-year-old refused to answer any questions when he was questioned, and denied the offences until the moment his trial was due to start earlier this month.

At Teesside Crown Court, Thompson finally admitted 12 charges of distributing indecent photographs of a child, two counts of making them, and possessing a further 1,299.

The court heard yesterday that he was attached to a TA centre in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, until he resigned after his arrest last September.

He had served for 19 years with the Army in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and spent much of his time working for the reservists.

Annelise Haugstad, mitigating, said Thompson also raised money for equipment for hospitals in Darlington and Bishop Auckland with charity motorcycle rides.

Thompson, who has two children and two step-children, was described as a man of positive good character, and provided glowing testimonials from supporters.

Judge Michael Taylor told him: “You say that you came into contact with this by accident, but the reality is that within a couple of days you were receiving and exchanging images with a number of like-minded individuals.

“Let there be no doubt about it, that without people to look at this material there would not be the abuse of children which leads to the creation of these images.

“This is straightforward criminal abuse of children and the consequences are horrific, and anybody who has to look at these is always disturbed by what they see.

“You chose to carry on looking at these images and distributing them. You were arrested and did not avail yourself of the opportunity to come clean at the first opportunity.”

Thompson was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and was banned from having computer hardware and software in his home.

Thompson was working in 102 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (Reme), in Newton Aycliffe, at the time of the offences. He was a full time TA soldier and a member of the battalion’s permanent staff having formally served as a regular soldier in the Royal Engineers.

However, an MoD spokesman said last night that he handed in his notice during the course of the legal proceedings.

Having served his 61-day notice period, he ceased being a soldier on August 7, the day after he admitted the charges.

As such, he will not face any action from the Army, said the spokesman.