The pedophile’s five-word response to his Snapchat account brought the police to his door

A pedophile asked the police “is this about the videos?” when they came knocking at his door.

Lewis Wilkinson used Snapchat, Telegram and Mega to collect and share sickening images and videos of children as young as four being sexually abused. He told detectives he “just couldn’t stop” after he “went down a wormhole” online following his grandfather’s death.

Liverpool Crown Court heard this afternoon, Tuesday, that Merseyside Police received information that the 22-year-old’s IP address had been used to download indecent images of children, while his Snapchat account was also used to access illegal files in January. 15 last year. As a result, officers executed a search warrant at his home at around 9.30am on 30 May 2023.

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Wilkinson – of Stringhey Road in Wallasey, Wirral – answered the door and asked “if it was about the videos”. Stuart Mills, prosecuting, described how an iPhone and iPad were then seized from the property.

15 category A indecent images, which present the worst forms of abuse, were later discovered on the mobile phone. Wilkinson was also found to have collected 51 category B images, 123 category C images, 54 prohibited computer generated images and two extreme pornographic images.

Meanwhile, Mr Mills said there was “evidence of the distribution of indecent images of children” on the device. This preoccupied him with sending five category A images, eight category B images and one category C image to other perverts.

Wilkinson, who has no previous convictions, was interviewed on November 30 that year and told detectives he had been viewing such material for around a year. He added that it “started after the loss of his grandfather” and “started out of curiosity but it escalated and he just couldn’t stop” after using the Telegram and Mega apps to download the gruesome images and videos.

Anthony O’Donohoe, defending, told the court: ‘He is someone who, quite refreshingly, has been completely open about this matter. Here is a young man who has fully cooperated with the police and has voluntarily taken steps to rehabilitate himself.

“It became quite isolated. The death of his grandfather hit him very hard.

“It was easy for him to be in his own room, in his own world. He went into a wormhole and started to develop a morbid interest in this kind of material.”

Mr O’Donohoe said his client “exchanged like-minded people for other images” but shared a “relatively small number” of images, adding: “In addition, he has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD . His parents describe him as immature for his age, but a likeable young man.

“He’s started other hobbies too – an interest in air shows and the like. He wants to take courses to help himself in the job market.”

Wilkinson admitted three counts of distributing indecent images of children, possessing indecent images, three counts of making indecent images, possessing prohibited images of children and possessing extreme pornographic images. He received a 16-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: “Of all these offenses the most serious is that of distributing Class A images. I am quite satisfied that this activity can be limited to a relatively short period of time within 12 months .

“One of the positives in your case is that after your arrest you were immediately honest with the police. This is an attitude that has continued to this day.

“You, through your work, have contributed to a horrific and sordid global industry of the manipulation and exploitation of young children. They are inevitably damaged and traumatized.

“I see how it all started, a period of isolation in the days of covid, after a very missed bereavement of your grandfather. You started getting involved with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and of course what happened is your diagnosis of ADHD and autism.”

Wilkinson was also given 160 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days. He was made subject to a seven-year sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offenders’ register.

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