DURHAM MAN IAN SMITHSON HEBNER SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND ONLINE PREDATION IN DURHAM

In a disturbing case that has shocked the community of Durham, Ian Smithson Hebner, a 42-year-old resident of Durham City, was found guilty of multiple charges related to child exploitation and online predatory behavior. The case came to light after authorities uncovered a significant amount of illegal material stored on Hebner’s computer equipment, revealing a total of 17,840 indecent images of children. Among these, 746 fell into the most severe categories, highlighting the gravity of his offenses.

Durham Crown Court heard that Hebner had engaged in a series of manipulative and predatory activities, including posing as a teenage boy to lure a 14-year-old girl into sending numerous indecent photographs over the internet. The prosecution, led by David Crook, detailed how Hebner initially contacted the girl from North Yorkshire, adopting the alias Ian Smith, claiming to be a 14 or 15-year-old boy from Birmingham. During their online exchanges, Hebner even posted a photograph of a teenage relative, taken from a wedding photo, claiming it was himself to deceive the girl.

Throughout their correspondence, the girl sent Hebner 70 explicit photographs of herself, which he had encouraged through suggestive poses. In return, Hebner sent her intimate images of himself. The case revealed that Hebner had paid £100 to top up the girl’s mobile phone, a transaction that was traced back to him through his credit card details, leading to his arrest in April for possessing child pornography. Despite his detention, Hebner continued to communicate with the girl, demonstrating a disturbing persistence in his online predation.

Further investigations uncovered that Hebner had established a website called “Young Bi Girls,” where he posed as a 14-year-old girl named “Lucy” to attract other young females, including a girl named Kirsty. On this platform, he uploaded 21 indecent images of girls, some of which included a photograph of a three-year-old child, taken by Hebner himself. Police efforts to trace Kirsty proved unsuccessful, but the evidence was damning.

When questioned in court, Hebner admitted to setting up the website to contact teenage bisexual females and to the charges against him, which included five counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, seven counts related to making, distributing, or possessing indecent images of children, and two counts of voyeurism. His actions prompted widespread outrage, with Judge Christopher Price condemning some of Hebner’s activities as actions that would “outrage all right-minded people.”

In sentencing, Hebner was handed a four-year prison term. The court also imposed a sexual offences prevention order, which will remain in effect until further notice, and banned him from ever working with children. Additionally, Hebner was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely, ensuring ongoing monitoring of his activities. The case underscores the serious threat posed by online predators and the importance of vigilant law enforcement in protecting vulnerable children from exploitation.