Paedophile RAF Cosford medic fails to get sentence cut
An RAF Cosford medic who preyed on young children online deserved every day of his sentence, top judges have said.
Luke Childs, 30, was stationed at RAF Cosford when military police arrested him in February last year.
The senior aircraftman had been trying to meet up with a 14-year-old girl after grooming her online.
Following his arrest, his computer was seized and a catalogue of other sex crimes against young children was revealed.
Childs had spent almost two years contacting children online and trying to meet up with them for sex. He sent them explicit photos and got them to perform sex acts.
When analysed, his computer was found to contain 1,600 images depicting the most serious forms of child abuse, as well as other extreme pornography.
Sentenced
Childs admitted an attraction to children and was sentenced to seven years custody, with another four on extended licence, by a military court in October last year. He appealed, claiming the sentence was too long, despite the fact he had been assessed as a “dangerous offender”.
But senior judges at the Court of Appeal in London rejected his challenge to the sentence. Lady Justice Hallett said Childs had been frustrated in his career because, despite joining the RAF as a medic, he was held in the admin corps.
He confessed that he was sexually attracted to children and that he needed help to make sure he does not offend again.
Dismissing his appeal, the appeal judge said the court martial was entitled to find that an “extended sentence” was needed to protect children from Childs.
"He must appreciate that the offending he commits causes immeasurable harm to his child victims,” she said. “His offending stretched over a period of nearly two years and it was escalating at the time he was caught.”
She dismissed his appeal and upheld the sentence.
Childs had admitted 25 crimes, including multiple counts of trying to meet a child after grooming.
He has been dismissed from the service.
