disturbing | 

Christian missionary who had almost 150 videos of children being raped is jailed

David Harper, described in court as a well-educated Christian man, also sent a teenage boy a picture of his private parts

Paul Higgins

Today at 14:30

A Christian missionary who helped build a hospital in Nepal was jailed on Friday after a judge heard he had almost 150 videos and images of children being raped and sexually abused.

David Harper, described in court as a well-educated Christian man, also sent a teenage boy a picture of his private parts and shared an explicit video with a second boy.

Imposing a two-year sentence on the 75-year-old at Antrim Crown Court, Judge Alistair Devlin ordered him to serve eight months in jail and 16 months under supervised licence conditions.

On charges covering a timespan between February 2011 and September 2021 Harper, from the Drumnagreagh Road in Ballygally on the Antrim coast, admitted one count of attempted sexual communication with a boy under 16, and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child.

He also admitted 16 counts of making or possessing indecent images of children as well as single charges of having prohibited images and extreme pornography.

Prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher said police seized three devices when they searched Harper’s home in September 2021 — a computer hard drive and two mobile phones.

During initial interviews Harper denied he had “a sexual interest in children” but admitted he had downloaded, possessed and distributed indecent images of children.

Ms Gallagher told the court how that forensic examination of his devices not only uncovered indecent photographs and videos, they revealed that Harper had been involved in sexualised online chats with two boys aged 15 and 16-years-old.

Harper had sent one boy an image of his own private parts and had shared an explicit sex video with the second boy.

Ms Gallagher argued there were multiple aggravating features to Harper’s offending including that he had distributed indecent images, he had communicated sexually with a child and much of the material he had were movie files as opposed to still photographs.

Defence counsel Neil Moore submitted there were also mitigating factors to be taken into consideration including Harper’s guilty pleas and previously clear record.

The barrister revealed that Harper is a “well-educated” Christian man who was married, had children and who had “went to Nepal and engaged in assisting and construction of a hospital as a missionary.”

“Throughout his life there was an undoubted battle, and it has been a battle, with his sexuality and his strong Christian beliefs,” said Mr Moore.

Jailing Harper, Judge Devlin said it was a worrying aspect of the offences that of the disgusting material he had, a third of it was assessed at the most heinous level and also that two thirds of the material were movie files rather than still photographs.

The judge said Harper had shared material with two boys whom he knew full well were only children.

He told the Co Antrim pensioner that while he may well have struggled with his sexuality over the years, he was not being sentenced for any sexual ambiguity but rather for engaging in “highly sexualised” chats with two teenage boys and the downloading and sharing of disgusting images.

Judge Devlin told Harper that viewing and downloading indecent images of children “should not be regarded by you or indeed anyone else as any form of victimless crime”.

“Were it not for the highly disturbing international market for this type of appalling material, which you and others like you knowingly and unthinkingly participate in, vulnerable children across the world would not be subjected to this type of exploitation, humiliation and sexual degradation to the extent that they are,” the judge told Harper.

He told Harper that clearly, his offending warranted a sentence “substantially in excess of 12 months” but in departing from the usual 50/50 split between custody and supervision, the judge added it was clear from the reports that “more in depth work” was required by the probation board.

Harper was told he will have to sign the police sex offenders register for the next 10 years and also that he will be subject to a Sexual offences Prevention Order for seven years.