A music teacher who appeared on talent show The Voice has been jailed after being caught viewing and distributing child abuse images.

Paul Rajasegaram, who taught at a school in Tower Hamlets, was arrested after an investigation found he was behind an online persona discussing sexual abuse of children on a chat platform frequented by paedophiles.

Martin Ludlow, operations manager at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: "Rajasegaram was a significant risk to children and as a teacher had access to young boys whom he was sexually attracted to.

"He sought out child abuse images and exchanged them with others. It is easy to forget that behind every sexual abuse image is a child whose life has been torn apart by exploitation, with men like Rajasegaram fuelling the demand for this horrendous material."

Officers from the NCA gained intelligence that a user on the platform had found two victims, aged 10 and 12, to be "really cute".

Further investigation led them to 33-year-old Rajasegaram and he was arrested in January 2018.

A number of devices were seized from his home in Westminster, and forensic analysis of an Apple laptop computer revealed 58 indecent images and 10 child abuse videos.

Chat logs from a Skype account linked to Rajasegaram showed he had shared child abuse images with like-minded individuals. These ranged from category A - the most obscene - to C.

Following arrest, Rajasegaram was suspended from his school - which has not been named - and a performing arts school where he worked at weekends.

The NCA conducted safeguarding checks on pupils at the two schools, including the children that Rajasegaram had called "cute".

There was no evidence offending had taken place against any pupil.

Rajasegaram was sentenced to two years and three months at Southwark Crown Court on May 19.

He pleaded guilty on April 14 to three counts of making, and two of distributing, indecent images of children.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of a similar crime you can report the matter to the police.

If you have been affected by anything in this report then information and advice can be found on the ThinkUKnow website. Links include advice for parents, carers and professionals.