In 2021, Sven Hendriksen, then 45 years old, of Dorset Place, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was sentenced at Durham Crown Court to 29 months in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.
The court heard details regarding Hendriksen’s online targeting of individuals he believed to be children aged 13 and 14 over two months. Prosecutor Chris Baker outlined how Hendriksen initiated contact on online chat rooms before directing the conversations to the encrypted messaging app WhatsApp. Thinking he was speaking to four genuine young girls, Hendriksen engaged in explicit sexual conversations, sent images of his genitalia, requested photographs of the “girls” in their underwear, and urged them to delete the messages and keep the contact secret from their parents. In one exchange, Hendriksen asked a profile to be his girlfriend and stated he would travel to Scotland to perform sexual acts on her.
In reality, Hendriksen was communicating simultaneously with decoy profiles operated by four separate online safety groups. On 24 February 2019, Durham Constabulary officers and members of an online safety group attended Hendriksen’s home address on Dorset Place, Bishop Auckland. When questioned about his mobile phone, Hendriksen admitted he had smashed the device and submerged it in a tub of paint in an attempt to destroy digital evidence and evade police action. Despite the physical damage, forensic technicians successfully recovered a large volume of incriminating messages.
It was further revealed at Durham Crown Court that Hendriksen was subject to notification requirements arising from a 2017 suspended sentence for possessing indecent images of children. Hendriksen committed criminal breaches by failing to register his possession of the mobile phone and using the unnotified alias “Steven Henderson.”
Passing sentence, Judge Ray Singh told Sven Hendriksen from Bishop Auckland: “I’m afraid you are someone who has an unhealthy interest in children,” emphasising that Hendriksen fully believed he was interacting with real children. Judge Singh jailed Hendriksen for 29 months, made him subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years, and ordered him to register as a sex offender on the UK Register Database for a further 10 years.
For the latest updates and offender details, follow us on the UK Register Database Facebook Page. If you or anyone you know has been affected by the individuals highlighted on this website, please report them to the Police on 101 (999 in an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details on how to report a crime. You can also report to Crimestoppers if you wish to remain completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.