Almost 90 paedophile cases in British Armed Forces in the last three and a half years #TheElitePartyinJuly #IRepEntertain9jarBlog #TwitterTrendBlog via @myentertain9jar

NEARLY 90 serving members of the Armed Forces have been arrested or charged with child sex offences in three and a half years, the Daily Express can reveal.

A soldier training in Wales[GETTY - Picture Posed By Model]

A Freedom of Information request shows that personnel are being arrested at the rate of almost one every two weeks.

The figures show that 47 soldiers, sailors or airmen have been referred to prosecutors since the start of 2011 for allegedly downloading child pornography from the internet, with 21 convicted so far.

These are very worrying figures

Senior MoD source, speaking to the Daily Express

In the same period 39 have been arrested for child sex offences including rape or sexual assault. Seven have been convicted.

And due to what the Ministry of Defence says are “exceptional circumstances”, about 20 personnel have been allowed to remain in the Army while on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

One of the greatest areas of concern is the downloading of child pornography.

A senior MoD source said: “These are very worrying figures.”

Peter McKelvie, a former child protection manager, claimed this week that senior members of the Armed Forces, peers, judges and politicians were part of a powerful elite who abused children for decades.

An MoD spokesman said the figures “represent a very small number out of a serving population of over 165,000”.