A 20-YEAR-OLD has avoided a prison sentence after he admitted possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

Euwyn Draper, of Goat Street in Haverfordwest, appeared at Swansea Crown Court charged with three offences of making indecent images of children and three of distributing indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty to having 74 Category A – the most serious – images, 102 Category B images and 385 Category C images between April 25 and December 22, 2022, and admitted sending one image of each category on November 4, 2022.

Prosecutor Sian Cutter told the court that officers raided Draper’s address December 21, 2022. He wasn’t home, but his devices were seized. These were later returned after nothing was found on them.

The police then went to Draper’s place of work, and upon seeing the officers he said: "I know why you’re here. I don’t do it anymore. I’m sorry."

His phone was seized, and on it officers found the indecent images of children, as well as internet searches relating to children.

Ms Cutter said there was a conversation on Instagram in which Draper and another user showed “a mutual interest” in a since deleted page “likely” to have featured children.

Draper also sent a contact known as "Ralph" three indecent images of children – one of each category – on November 4, 2022, on WhatsApp.

In interview, the defendant – who has no previous convictions – denied that he had a sexual interest in children.

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Dan Griffiths, in mitigation, said: “The defendant fully acknowledges the seriousness of the case.

“He very much appreciates that the custody threshold is crossed in this case.”

He said that Draper was 18 when he started viewing these images and was 19 at the time of his arrest. He described the defendant as “clearly very, very immature”.

Mr Griffiths noted that it had taken some 16 months for the case to come to court since Draper’s arrest.

“The facts of the case are all together to familiar to this court,” said Judge Geraint Walters.

He said that the public “understandably have a huge dislike” of offenders in cases such as this.

“These are real children, they are not actors," he said.

“The only reason why images of children appear on the internet at all is because there is a market out there.

“It’s sickening.”

Draper was sentenced to a total of 12 months for the distribution charges, and a concurrent total sentence of six months for the making indecent images offences. These sentences were suspended for two years.

Draper must complete the Horizon programme, as well as 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was ordered to register as a sex offender and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, both for ten years.

“What you need to do is knuckle down, see if you can rehabilitate yourself, and see if you can move on from this dark phase in your young life,” Judge Walters told Draper.