Former soldier sentenced for child sex abuse

A former soldier has been sentenced for trying to engage in sexual activity with a child and making, owning, and sharing indecent images of children.

North Yorkshire Police said it first became aware of Adam David Bonner's offending when a computer he was suspected of using to download hundreds of indecent images of children was traced to his Army barracks in Devon.

The 19-year-old, from Middlesbrough, was sentenced to three years and four months in a young offender institution at York Crown Court on Wednesday.

He will also be put on the sex offenders register, banned from working with vulnerable adults and children, and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

The indecent images of children included those in the worst category, and he tried to engage in sexual communication with a girl aged under 13 and to cause a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and look at sexual material, police said.

Bonner was also found in possession of an extreme pornographic image involving an animal.

He was arrested at Catterick Garrison in April.

North Yorkshire Police's online child abuse and digital forensics teams tracked his crimes across different locations he had been stationed at, including Dorset, Scotland, and his hometown in the North East.

Det Sgt Graeme Bevington, from the Online Child Abuse Team, said: "His offending is truly reprehensible, and we are glad that Bonner is now behind bars for a significant period of time.

"Crucially, he will be subject to robust public protection measures for the rest of his life."

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