Theresa May’s de-facto Deputy Prime Minister has backed away from an outright denial that his computer contained “extreme” pornography, as it is claimed the material would have been illegal if found just weeks later.
The First Secretary of State Damian Green is currently battling to hold on to his job after accusations of inappropriate advances on a journalist similar to those that brought down former Defense Secretary Michael Fallon.
He was accused of “fleetingly” toughing the young woman’s knee, but said the claim was “untrue and deeply hurtful”.
Mr. Green’s office was raided during an inquiry into government leaks in 2009 when police took his laptop. Following the journalist’s allegations this year, a former policeman claimed pornography was found on the device.
A source close to the investigation told the Sun: “Porn was being accessed on an almost virtual daily basis. Police were told nothing could be done.
“Quite simply, it was not illegal to be in possession of extreme images before January 2009. If the raid had happened a few weeks later it would have been.”
Accessing extreme sexual images became an offence in January 2009 after a four-year battle by the parents of murdered Jane Longhurst.
In a statement issued Friday night, Mr. Green said he “did not put or view pornography on the computers taken from my office,” implicitly conceding there may have been some on the device.
It is unclear who could have downloaded the porn, however. Reports suggest it did not feature sexual images of children.
On the 4th of November, meanwhile, Mr. Green completely denied the material existed. He said in a statement: “This story is completely untrue and comes from a tainted and untrustworthy source
“The police have never suggested to me that improper material was found on my Parliamentary computer, nor did I have a ‘private’ computer as has been claimed.
“The allegations about the material and computer, now nine years old, are false, disreputable smears.”
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