Teenager caught with indecent images of children.

Teenager Escapes Prison Sentence for Child Abuse Images

Leon Dunlavy, now 19, was arrested last August after police received information about his online activity. Dunlavy claimed he may have accidentally stumbled upon indecent images through pop-ups and that he didn't intentionally seek them out.

However, a thorough examination of his devices revealed otherwise. While one phone contained no illegal content, it showed evidence of searches for child abuse images. On a second phone, two category A images and one category C image were found. Additionally, a cloud storage device held 45 category A videos, 27 category B videos, and 12 category C videos, as well as two videos depicting bestiality.

The children depicted in the images and videos were estimated to be between four and 14 years old. Despite pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing extreme pornography, Dunlavy avoided a prison sentence.

Instead, he was sentenced to a two-year community order with 120 hours of unpaid work. He must also register as a sex offender for five years and comply with a sexual harm prevention order.

Dunlavy's defense argued that he was a young man who led a sheltered life and was not a mature offender. The court acknowledged this but emphasized the seriousness of his crimes.