A NEW ethics review process could be set up at Southampton University after a professor failed to get permission to download child pornography as part of his research.

Child welfare expert Christopher Bagley was arrested as part of Operation Ore, a massive international police investigation against suspected Internet paedophiles.

Police swooped on his home and university office and seized 11 floppy discs, which were found to contain a total of 94 pornographic images of children, mainly young boys with adult men.

Bagley, 66, formerly of Kingfisher Court, Highfield Road, Southampton, subsequently admitted 16 charges of making indecent photographs, but insisted the pictures were part of his research for a new book about child sexual abuse.

Yesterday a judge at Portsmouth Crown Court accepted his explanation and imposed a three-year conditional discharge.

Judge David Selwood said he was not satisfied that Bagley, a world renowned expert in child welfare, had downloaded the images for his own sexual gratification.

However, he told Bagley he had shown "arrogance and a certain naivety" by not seeking legal advice or informing colleagues before starting his work - which involved looking at more than 5,000 indecent images of children over a three and a half year period.

Today a Southampton University spokesman said: "The university is already looking into the need for an internal ethics review process for these and other areas of research.

"We must stress, however, that the university was never informed or aware of any research that required the downloading or study of illegal images, and does not condone any illegal activity."

Bagley, who had worked in the university's social work studies department since 1996, had been on special leave after his arrest but retired after his contract ended last September.

Now living in Sutton, Surrey, he said after the case: "I think the whole procedure was entirely fair. I have no complaints in any direction."