Teenager sentenced for child abuse video haul

Leon Dunlavy was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court

A teenager who was found with a haul of sexual images featuring children as young as four years old has been sentenced.

Leon Dunlavy, now aged 19, amassed a collection of graphic videos including almost 50 in the most serious category when he was 17, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornographic material.

Dunlavy, of Cowgate in Newcastle, was made subject to a two-year community order with 120 hours of unpaid work.

Officers went to his home on 22 August 2023 and seized two mobile phones and access to an online storage account after a Google account linked with him uploaded illegal images, Judge Robert Spragg said.

Dunlavy told police he may have been sent unsolicited links to child sexual content but he had never asked for them, but both phones had been used to search for terms associated with such images, the court heard.

Two category A images were found on one phone, with 45 videos in the most serious category found on his online storage account.

There were also 27 category B images, 12 category C and two featuring bestiality, the court heard.

Children in the images ranged in age from four to 14, the court heard.

In mitigation, the court heard Dunlavy was socially isolated and immature.

Dunlavy, of Chestnut Avenue, was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order limiting his access to the internet for five years and must sign the sex offenders register for the same period.