Michael Tombs, 33, of Thorne, Doncaster, pleaded guilty at Doncaster Crown Court to five counts of making indecent images of children at a hearing on 22 June. He was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register and was granted conditional bail pending his return to court for sentencing on 15 July.
Mr Tombs ran a training company called Michael Tombs Childcare Services and was once employed as a trainer by Common Threads, a not-for-profit training organisation specialising in children's play. He made the 397 photos between 1 May, 2006 and April last year. He committed some of the offences while serving as a governor at King Edward Primary School in Thorne.
A spokesman for Doncaster council said, 'Michael Tombs was appointed as a governor at Thorne King Edward Primary School in January 2006. He resigned in October 2006 without ever attending a governing body meeting or visiting the school.'
Mr Tombs' appointment to the post of governor did not require a Criminal Records Bureau check. However, a spokesperson for the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) confirmed that, under the new vetting and barring scheme, people who are moving jobs or who are applying to become school governors for the first time will have to be registered with the ISA from November 2010.
Mr Tombs was selected as a Labour Party candidate for the Thorne ward in the May 2008 council elections, which were held just weeks after the last date of his offences. However, a Labour Party spokesman said that Mr Tombs had decided not to run in the 2008 election and had stood down.
The spokesman said, 'Following his conviction, Michael Tombs is now suspended from membership while this process is concluded.'
Shelley Newstead of Common Threads said, 'Michael Tombs was dismissed from Common Threads several years ago. We have strict quality assurance procedures and had concerns over his performance. He worked for us as a trainer and so had no direct access to children.'
In a separate incident, a 20-year-old nursery worker was charged last week with sexually assaulting a boy and girl, both aged seven, at the setting where he worked in Blackpool. Police confirmed that John Lee Fraser had worked at a number of unnamed settings in the Blackpool area. Mr Fraser was bailed by magistrates to appear at Preston Crown Court on 17 August.
