An Aberystwyth University student who downloaded child sexual abuse and bestiality photos and videos from the dark web has avoided a prison sentence.

Elisha Chikwezvero, whose address was given in court as 4 Loveland Road, Aberystwyth, appeared before Swansea Crown Court on Thursday, 17 September.

The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to making a total of 79 indecent images of children in Aberystwyth between 6 September 2022 and 18 December 2024, including 45 of the most serious category A.

Chikwezvero also pleaded guilty to possession of 36 extreme pornographic images of animals and possession of a prohibited image of a child, both in Aberystwyth on 17 December 2024.

Chikwezvero was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and to do 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.

He was also made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and will be a registered sex offender for the same length of time.

The computer science student was caught after a specialist online crime unit raided his student accommodation and seized his phones.

In his subsequent interview the defendant accepted searching the dark web for sexual content involving animals. He was then released under investigation, the court was told.

Cailtin Brazel, prosecuting ,said after the examination of the phone the defendant was interviewed for a second time in December 2025 and admitted "bulk downloading" pornographic images - downloads which would have included images of children, though he denied having a sexual interest in children.

The defendant also said he kept the images in a secure "vault" on the phone which would not be visible to members of his family who may pick up the device.

Dean Pulling, for Chikwezvero, described the defendant as a "self-effacing young man who is deeply remorseful".

He pointed to the "inordinate and inexplicable" delay in the case coming to court, and he said given the contents of the "detailed and helpful" pre-sentence report, his client's lack of previous convictions, his personal mitigation, and his credit for his guilty pleas he would invite the court to pass a suspended sentence.

Passing sentence, Mark Powell KC, said Chikwezvero had used his knowledge of computers to access and download images from the dark web and then to place them in a vault on his phone.

He rejected the defendant's assertion that he has no sexual interest in children, and he told Chikwezvero that the images found on his phone were of real children somewhere in the world being abused so people like him could obtain sexual gratification from viewing them.

The recorder said Chikwezvero's offending had been sustained and deliberate, and had taken place over a period of around two years.

He also said it was clear from the pre-sentence report that the defendant was "minimising" the seriousness of his offending, and he said that was something Chikwezvero needed "educating" about.

The recorder added that while the future of Chikwezvero's studies was not a matter for the court, the defendant's offending had jeopardised his potential career and had brought "significant embarrassment" to his family.