EX-POLICE OFFICER MAX HOLWAY SENTENCED FOR CHILD ABUSE IMAGES
A disgraced former police officer, Max Holway, has been sentenced to just over three-and-a-half months in jail after being found guilty of possessing over 22,000 child sex abuse images.The 54-year-old ex-detective inspector initially attempted to blame a lodger for the disturbing content discovered on his computer.
Holway admitted to three charges of possessing indecent images of children—24 in the second-highest category of seriousness (category B) and 21,824 in the lowest category (category C).
Additionally, there were 30 indecent movie clips depicting scantily clad girls around 10 years old in category C.
The images were downloaded over a six-hour period, five days after he bought the computer on eBay.
Holway claimed he kept the device in a publicly accessible hallway where his lodger and visitors could access it and denied searching for the images.
The police were alerted when staff at a repair shop in Tunbridge Wells noticed the content on his laptop.
Officers subsequently arrested him at his home in Boyne Park, Tunbridge Wells.
During proceedings, Holway expressed remorse and claimed he was trying to address his offending.
His defense argued he was in denial but was attempting to turn his life around and called for professional help.
The judge sentenced him to immediate custody and imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
He will be listed on the sex offenders register for 10 years, barred from working with children and vulnerable adults, and the NSPCC highlighted that Holway, as a police officer, betrayed his duty to fight child abuse rather than fueling it.
The court noted that some victims were relatively young but not extremely young, and emphasized the importance of a deterrent sentence due to the nature of the offense.
The NSPCC called for increased action from government and internet providers to prevent circulation of such illicit images online.
