HOLMFIRTH MAN STEPHEN COWAP CAUGHT WITH CHILD RAPE IMAGES AND VIDEOS IN SHOCKING CASE

In a disturbing case that has sent shockwaves through the community of Holmfirth, Stephen Cowap, a 45-year-old resident of the town, was found in possession of a vast collection of indecent images and videos depicting children being subjected to sexual abuse and torture. The incident came to light after police executed a search warrant at his residence on Slaithwaite Road in Holmfirth on June 17, 2019.

During the raid, law enforcement officers seized a computer tower and two USB sticks from Cowap’s home. At the time, Cowap was not present, but he voluntarily attended Huddersfield police station the following day to provide a statement. In his initial interview with authorities, he claimed that his internet activity was primarily for viewing adult pornography. However, he also acknowledged that his devices contained images of underage teenagers, admitting to coming across a website that hosts child sex abuse material and downloading approximately 50 images into a folder on his desktop.

Cowap further explained that some of the images showed naked children dancing, but he insisted that it was difficult to determine their ages and maintained that he was not sexually interested in children. Despite his claims, subsequent analysis of the seized devices revealed a far more disturbing reality. Forensic examination uncovered thousands of indecent images of children, with some files having been deleted but still recoverable. Of the images that could be categorized, 4,379 were identified, including 117 in the most severe category. Among these, 45 were photographs and 72 were videos. The remaining images were classified into different categories, with over 130 in category B and the majority, 4,129 images, in category C.

Investigations also revealed that Cowap had actively searched for the dark web browser Tor and similar websites that host child abuse images, indicating a deliberate effort to access such material. In his second police interview, he admitted to using Tor and confirmed that he possessed indecent images on his USB sticks. He claimed that he viewed these images out of curiosity, expressing feelings of disgust and shame about his actions.

Following his guilty plea to three counts of making indecent images of children, Cowap was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court. He received a 10-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activities and perform 200 hours of unpaid community work. Additionally, Cowap was placed under a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, restricting his future conduct and access to related material, in an effort to protect the community from further harm.