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Paedophile is jailed for 12 years for 12 sex offences

The sentencing of a paedophile in the Royal Court yesterday was preceded by a ‘health warning’ from the judge.

Benjamin Solowan was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison.
Benjamin Solowan was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison. / Supplied

The court was sentencing Benjamin Solowan for six offences of attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of child sex offences, and six more of making indecent images of minors, from his home in Sark.

Lt-Bailiff Russell Finch said the court would be hearing evidence of very unpleasant sexualised messaging involving what the defendant believed was children. He said that people were free to leave the court immediately if they did not wish to hear it or at any time during the proceedings, and prison officers could rotate in the dock if they wished.

Later, sentencing Solowan to a total of 12 years in prison, Lt-Bailiff Finch said the court had had to confront ‘pure evil’ and it was relieved that he had not been able to carry out sexual offences against children.

But intent was there to a very high degree and the court had noted the presence of sadism in some of the communications.

The court heard how Solowan, 40, who was born in Canada and also held UK citizenship had, for family reasons, been living in Sark at the time of his offending, working remotely for a company as a software engineer.

In autumn last year, a member of UK law enforcement posed online as a 12-year-old girl called Sophie. Solowan initiated contact and initially spoke about school and horse riding, but the chat soon turned sexual. He said he would like to kiss the girl and take it further. He travelled to meet the girl but no meeting took place.

Evidence was passed to police and he was arrested last December. Examination of his mobile phone showed evidence of further offending.

He provided the pincode to the device but it was then discovered that other information could not be accessed without the use of further pincodes. Files had been encrypted.

It was established that Solowan had also been communicating with a Belgian man who had the user name of Amelie. He was not connected to law enforcement but was someone who got a deviant pleasure from engaging in sexualised talk about children. The man initially posed as a 14-year-old girl called Imarni before later widening their conversation by posing as parents of others. Their lengthy and explicit conversations spoke of their wishes to rape and prostitute children.

Solowan booked flights to Manchester, believing he would meet the child. During these conversations, he also discussed plans to meet other girls, resulting in four further charges.

Solowan also admitted possessing indecent images of children which are graded on a C to A ascending scale in terms of their seriousness. Numbers in this case totalled 266, 48 and 51 respectively.

He had been jailed in Canada for 12 months in 2020 for possessing indecent images of children.

Defending, Advocate Oliver Fattorini said it was fortuitous that the communication offences had involved adults posing as children and no children had been harmed. His client had served as an information officer in the Canadian Navy for three years before being released as he was deemed unsuitable. He said he deserved to be prison and it was the best place for him to get help.

In his sentencing remarks, Lt-Bailiff Finch said the facts were unusual and from the court’s experience unprecedented. They were ‘disgusting and disturbing in the extreme’.

Solowan was sentenced to 10 years for attempting to engage with children for sex, plus two years consecutive for possessing indecent images. He will be subject to an extended sentence licence for five years upon his release and for notification requirements for 10 years.

A police spokesman said at the conclusion of the hearing: ‘This complex investigation demonstrates the dedication and expertise of our officers and digital forensic teams in identifying and responding to serious online threats. Our priority is keeping our community safe, and by taking swift action we have prevented potential harm to vulnerable individuals.

‘The charges brought towards this individual reflect the seriousness of the offences. We remain committed to relentlessly pursue those who seek to exploit young people in our community, including online threats, and work tirelessly to secure convictions.’