TILLINGHAM MAN WHO DOWNLOADED CHILD ABUSE IMAGES SENTENCED
A LONER who downloaded images of child abuse later claimed he committed the offences because he was disillusioned with the government and interested in paedophile hunters.Luke Halenko, 22, was stopped by police as he left his parents’ home in Tillingham last year before officers searched the house and seized several devices.
The defendant gave officers the PIN to an iPhone 11 which contained ten category A images which depicted sexual abuse of children as young as four, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
There were also 14 Category B images and nine Category C images which Halenko had downloaded in 2022 when he was 19.
He admitted three counts of making an indecent image of a child and was ordered by a judge to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work over the next 18 months.
Sentencing Halenko to an 18-month community order, Judge Jamie Sawyer said he did not accept the defendant’s explanation as to why he downloaded the images.
He said: “You had an interest in government affairs, a disquiet with government decisions and apparently the actions of paedophiles.
“You’re not pleased with the way the government was acting and that explains why you downloaded these images.
“This court so often sees the fallout of this abuse which ruins lives and very often echoes through generations of children being abused in that way.” Halenko, of North Street, Tillingham, was also ordered to carry out 30 rehabilitation days and serve a five-year sexual harm prevention order.
He is now barred from working with children and vulnerable adults and was ordered to pay £150 in court costs.
