MORE than a hundred military personnel have been investigated over child abuse images.

Soldiers, sailors and airmen caught by military police were booted out of the forces and jailed.

2 Dark Forces... more than a hundred military personnel have been investigated over child abuse images Credit: Alamy

The scale of the problem was revealed in figures obtained by The Sun on Sunday under Freedom of Information laws.

Most were dealt with by military court martial, with some referred to civilian courts and others dealt with out of court.

In the past ten years there have been 111 cases of possessing the vile images. Of those that reached court, 64 accused pleaded guilty, nine were convicted and four acquitted.

A dozen cases were opened by the Service Prosecution Authority last year.

2 Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: 'This shows the forces are tackling this and rooting it out' Credit: Alamy

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In one 2015 case, Roger Heal — who had a history of working with children — was arrested at RAF Waddington, Lincs. He is believed to have been jailed for 15 months and discharged.

In another case a sergeant with the RAF at ­Henlow, Beds, was thrown out of the service and jailed for 32 months.

Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “The military is drawn from society and this is a major problem generally.

“This shows the forces are tackling this and rooting it out.”

The MoD said: “Viewing indecent images of children has no place in the Armed Forces.”