A CULCHETH teen who was caught in possession of multiple indecent images of children was told by a judge if his offending had taken place when he was an adult, he would be facing a prison sentence.

Kai Lovesy, 19, was just 16 years old when he began accessing the dark web and storing indecent pictures of children on his phone.

Chris Taylor, prosecuting, told the court that police officers attended Lovesy’s address in Lansdowne, Culcheth, on July 14, 2022.

After conducting a search of his home, they found a white Iphone which was found to multiple indecent images of children which he had uploaded spanning across a period of a year.

Lovesy’s offending stopped aged 17. On devices taken by the police, there were found to be seven category A videos, this being the most severe category. As well as three category B images and two category C images.

50 extreme pornographic images were also found in his possession and conversations on a device were found, relating to the topic of ‘CP’, meaning child porn, Mr Taylor explained.

The court heard that the teen also had an ‘onion router installed to the dark web’.

“This assists the bypass to get on to the dark web,” Mr Taylor said. “There was no evidence of distribution and none of the files were live.”

He explained that Lovesy would have required specialist software to view the files again.

The ages of the children included within the indecent images ranged from four to 14 years old.

During a police interview conducted shortly after his arrest, Lovesy told officers he was using instant messaging website Discord – used regularly by gamers and mainly in the US – to contact his American friends.

He said he was told to send the images on to people on the platform and denied looking at the images as well as stating he had no interest in children.

The young defendant is of previous good character with a clean record.

“Regarding the number of images, it’s a small library but each of these images represents an abused child,” Mr Taylor concluded.

Lovesy faced sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday for charges relating to the possession of indecent images of a child.

His defence barrister, Emily Calman, told the court that her client was remorseful for his offending that was carried out at a young age.

“It was his isolated life that led to his offending on this occasion,” she said. “Mr Lovesy does have some issues with his mental health.”

She added that the defendant is keen to get back into education.

Concluding the case, Recorder Mark Ainsworth said: “This is in many ways an unusual case.

“The fact that the offence relates to a photograph means it was a victimless crime is not the case.

“Behind each and everyone of these photographs is a child being abused.

“That is why people in your circumstance would normally face a sentence of imprisonment.

“Had this offence been committed by you as an adult I would have no hesitation in imposing a immediate sentence.”

Mr Ainsworth served Lovesy a community order which included completing 25 rehabilitation days, attending the Horizon programme and completing 150 hours of unpaid work.