Man from Portstewart area jailed for making and possessing indecent images of children
A 46-year-old man from the Portstewart area was sentenced to two years at Antrim Crown Court on Thursday, December 14, for making and possessing indecent and prohibited images of children and possession of extreme pornography.
Darin Kolev will serve six months in custody and one year and six months on licence. In addition, he will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and will be subjected to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (also known as a SOPO) for six years. Kolev will also be disqualified from working with children.
Detective Inspector Richard Vasey from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Child Internet Protection Team said: “A number of electronic devices were seized following a search of Mr Kolev's property, resulting in Mr Kolev being arrested and later charged for child abuse related offences."
He added: “Over 17,000 indecent images of children were found on these devices. Behind each and every one of these images is a child who has suffered horrific abuse."
Detective Inspector Richard Vasey continued: “We have specialist officers within the Child Internet Protection Team who are dedicated to investigating these crimes, bringing those responsible before the courts and ultimately protecting further vulnerable young people from unimaginable suffering.
"We will continue proactively targeting those people in our community who contribute to this cycle of abuse and I would encourage anyone with concerns or information to get in contact us on 101 or 999 in an emergency. We will act on the information we receive,” he concluded.