A 46 year old man from Co Derry was sentenced to two years at Antrim Crown Court today for making and possessing indecent and prohibited images of children and possession of extreme pornography.
Darin Kolev, of Stuarts Gardens, Portstewart, will serve six months in custody and one year and six months on licence.
He will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and will be subjected to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) for six years.
He will also be disqualified from working with children.
Detective Inspector Richard Vasey from the PSNI’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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”