Man posed as teen to swap indecent images

Neil de Jersey, 36, who gave an address in St Peter’s, which he said was a temporary one, had pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images and three of making them.

Indecent images of children are graded on a C to A ascending scale in terms of their seriousness. The case involved 180, 34 and 26 images respectively.

Crown Advocate Fiona Russell, prosecuting, told the court that local police received information from a UK force that de Jersey had demonstrated a clear sexual interest in children online.

When officers visited his home, they seized devices which were later found to contain the indecent images.

He told police he had used chat forums and had received, shared and requested images on these sites.

He admitted that he had spoken to people who said they were minors and had at times pretended to be a 16-year-old boy and exchanged images and sexual content.

Advocate Liam Roffey, defending, said that offenders in such cases were often unwilling to confront their wrong-doing, but de Jersey bucked that trend.

After being open with police, he had sought help from his doctor and engaged with UK agencies.

His life had fallen apart since the charges came to light, Advocate Roffey said, after his marriage had broken up and he had lost his job. But his family remained supportive.

The advocate suggested that the court could impose a ‘very substantial’ community service order along with three years of probation.

But Judge Gary Perry said that although he would give de Jersey credit for his guilty plea and for his cooperation, his admissions of offending behaviour – pretending to be a teenager – may not have been reflected in the charges, but he had to take account of it in sentencing.

The number of images was well over 100 and included some in the highest category.

The fact that these had been viewed, but not stored, was a mitigating factor.

‘But be in no doubt that these are very serious offences which have been deplored again and again by courts in this Bailiwick,’ said the Judge.

De Jersey was sentenced to two years in prison for making the category A images, 16 months, concurrent, for making the category B images and 9 months, also concurrent, for making the images in the C category.

Similar terms were handed down in each of the three categories on the possession charges but all were to run concurrent.

De Jersey was also given an extended sentence of 18 months, plus a 10-year notification order.

He will be subject to conditions including not having access to the internet without permission, and not to contact any female under the age of 16 other than inadvertently in the course of everyday life.