GOLFORD, England - Actor Chris Langham was sentenced Friday to 10 months in jail for downloading child pornography on his three home computers.
The judge at Maidstone Crown Court ordered Langham, 58, to serve five months of his sentence, less the 43 days he already has spent in custody. The actor also was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Last month, the court convicted Langham of viewing indecent photos and downloading videos titled "Kiddy 11-year-old," "13-year-old preteen underage" and "preteen sex education." Langham admitted to viewing child porn, but pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, saying he wished to publicly declare that he is not a pedophile.
He claimed that he viewed the indecent images as research while writing for the BBC TV series "Help."
Judge Philip Statman said the age and vulnerability of the children in the videos Langham downloaded led him to impose a jail sentence.
"Some of the children viewed are clearly prepubescent, others are fully developed [and] some of the children are clearly of Filipino extract," he said. "All have had inflicted upon them horrifying sexual abuse, and I want to make this absolutely clear to you: I must think first of those children."
Langham, a twice-married father of five, was arrested in November 2005 after obscene files were found on his three home computers. His arrest occurred a week after he was named Best Television Comedy Actor at the 2005 British Comedy Awards for his roles in the BBC TV series "The Thick of It" and "Help."
Langham previously had been accused of having sex with an underage girl between January 1996 and April 2000 in his dressing room, car and home. The relationship reportedly began when Langham gave the girl acting lessons in his room at the Palace Theatre during his work on "Les Miserables."
The alleged victim, who had a history of mental illness, told the court that she had lost her virginity to Langham at the age of 14. Langham said he only had oral sex with her and she was 18 at the time.
The court cleared Langham of six counts of indecent assault and two counts of serious sexual assault on a teenager.
Lanham's film credits include The Life of
Brian, Carry On Columbus, My Napoleon and Room To Rent.
