A TOP police officer has avoided jail after pleading guilty to child pornography offences.

Chief Inspector Ben Hodder was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court after pleading guilty to making five indecent images of children.

Judge David Radford gave Hodder a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also made subject of a six-month electronic curfew, will pay a £1,200 fine and will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for seven years.

The officer, who was a Chief Inspector at Thurrock, admitted the charge on March 13 and has been suspended from duty since May 8, 2014.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “A special case hearing will take place on Friday, April 24, where his future employment with the force will be considered.

“A criminal conviction of this nature would ordinarily result in the dismissal of the officer.”

Hodder, 34, of San Marcos Drive, Chafford Hundred, was dressed in a grey shirt and dark coat and sat in court with his head down.

The court heard one of the images was a Category B image and four were of Category C.

Five pornographic images of children were found on an Apple MacBook and an Apple iPhone.

A further charge of accessing more serious images in category A was dropped after the prosecution discovered the women featured in the pictures were over the age of 18.

The child images in category B andCwere of a less serious pornographic nature. Hodder was convicted of making the indecent images of children between November and December 2013.

The disgraced police chief, who was arrested at his home in April 2014, began his career policing the streets of Basildon and Grays before moving on to become district commander in Harlow in April 2010.

The chief inspector later moved to become divisional commander in Thurrock.

Hodder’s case was transferred to Snaresbrook Crown Court from Basildon Magistrates’ Court due to his policing links to Essex.

The six-month electronic curfew sentence he received is part of a 12-month supervision order in addition to his seven years on the Sexual Offenders’ Register.