US Air Force sergeant based in Britain who downloaded child porn and had an 'interest in everything, including babies' avoids jail

Published: 12:37, 7 July 2026 | Updated: 12:38, 7 July 2026 A US airman stationed in Britain has avoided jail after being caught with extreme pornography involving children, snakes and dogs. Jarik Lofthus, 33, posted online that he was 'interested in everything, all ages including babies' before he admitted possessing pornography of children as young as four. But the Air Force staff sergeant, who was stationed at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, avoided jail and was given an eight-month sentence suspended for two years. The National Crime Agency tracked Lofthus after child abuse material was uploaded to the internet between August 2024 and March 2025. Officers seized a mobile device from Lofthus's home on July 16 last year after tracking one of the uploads to an IP address in the Bury St Edmunds area, West Suffolk. There were 42 Category A - the most serious kind - images and videos of children on the device, alongside 26 Category B images and 23 Category C images. Officers found three extreme pornographic images and five videos depicting sexual activity involving animals, including snakes, dogs and horses, the court heard. Prosecutor Holly Davies said investigators found online conversations which showed Lofthus's 'active interest in child abuse content'. Jarik Lofthus received a suspended sentence for possessing and producing pornographic images depicting animals and children A US Air Force plane at RAF Mildenhall, the Suffolk air base where Lofthus was stationed In one conversation the airman was asked whether he was interested in child pornography, to which he replied that he was 'interested in everything, all ages including babies'. When asked whether the rape of babies turned him on, he said 'yes'. Ms Davies said one of the Category A videos showed a girl as young as four. During a police interview Lofthus said the images of children 'must have auto-downloaded'. Lisa Bald, defending, said her client was experiencing an 'incredibly shaming moment' and was fully aware of the seriousness of the offences. She said Lofthus had served his country in the armed forces and now faced 'losing his livelihood and his way of life'. The defence said Lofthus needed help rather than punishment and cited his issues with alcohol misuse, attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, suggestions of suicidal thoughts and unresolved trauma from a difficult childhood. He pleaded guilty to four counts of possessing and producing pornographic images depicting animals and children as young as four.  His Honour Judge David Wilson, sentencing, said the material was a 'sickening display of child pornographic images'. He told Lofthus: 'Each of the images that are seen represent crime scenes. You are no innocent bystander. This is far from a victimless crime.' However he said the airman had previously been of good character and appeared to be 'kind and thoughtful and dependable'. He concluded only a prison sentence - combined with a decade on the sex offenders' register - could properly reflect the seriousness of the offending but said he would suspend it on the basis of Lofthus's 'realistic prospect of rehabilitation'. It is unclear whether the airman will be able to return to the US armed forces. Captain Jacob Wulfson, another US serviceman stationed in the UK, was subject to a court martial rather than an English trial after he was accused of strangling an academic Lofthus's sentencing came after Justice Secretary David Lammy promised to raise the conviction of another American serviceman with the US government. Captain Jacob Wulfson, who was based at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, was tried by court martial instead of facing an English trial for strangling a university academic. Wulfson strangled the woman in Cambridge while off duty but was cleared of sexual assault by an all-male panel at a US Air Force military hearing. However the F-35 pilot, of the 495th Fighter Squadron, was convicted of strangulation, dismissed from the military and given six months' detention. Mr Lammy said the case was 'extremely concerning' and Downing Street said it was 'very concerning' that it had not reached the Crown Prosecution Service.