A DISGRACED Scout leader has confessed to downloading pornography of children as young as five.

Alex Searle, 27, was removed as 7th Petts Wood Scout Group leader after police found a stash of more than 100 indecent images during a raid of his home.

Searle pleaded guilty to 12 counts of making indecent images of children at Croydon Crown Court.

His offending only came to light in April, when his boss, the manager of Gamestation, in Orpington High Street, called in police after stock went missing.

He admitted stealing up to £16,000 of computer games, consoles and DVDs before passing them on to Benjamin Gunn, 18, who would exchange them for credit notes.

Officers searched Searle’s home, also in the High Street, where they found the stolen goods, two bags of cannabis, as well as 44 print-outs and 66 digital images of children between the ages of five and 16 in various states of undress.

Several images were branded levels four and five, with five being the most serious on the scale.

The Scout Association condemned Searle's actions and a spokesman said: "He has betrayed the trust placed in him by parents, by other volunteers and by the Scout movement. There is no place in the movement for anyone who abuses that trust."

Adult members who work with young people undergo a strict vetting procedure. Judge Kenneth Macrae ordered Searle to sign the sex offenders' register.

He will be sentenced next month after probation reports have been prepared.

Searle pleaded guilty to the theft charge at Croydon Crown Court and was given an 18-month community sentence in September. He was cautioned for possession of cannabis.

Gunn, of Claidon Way, Orpington, admitted theft and was also given an 18-month community sentence in September.