The Guernsey Press understands that he communicated his intention to the Bailiff, Sir Richard McMahon, hours after Policy & Resources president Lindsay de Sausmarez publicly called for him to leave the States.
It is not yet clear whether he intends to resign immediately, and in any event the law states that the resignation of a deputy does not take effect until it has been accepted by the States Assembly.
The Bailiff's Chambers declined to comment on the matter when contacted late today.
Le Tocq pleaded guilty yesterday to a total of 15 charges of making, sending and possessing more than 2,400 indecent images of children.
Immediately after the court hearing, Deputy de Sausmarez, the island's most senior politician, said her predecessor had betrayed the island's trust, and this morning she urged him to resign.
'I am strongly urging him to take that course of action, but ultimately a resignation can only be enacted by the individual member himself, and can’t be imposed by anyone else,' said Deputy de Sausmarez.
Without Le Tocq resigning, the only way of removing him from the States would be if the Law Officers presented a petition to the Royal Court, but that could be done only after he is sentenced in January.
He was arrested in July and remanded in custody in August. There have been public calls for him to repay the remuneration he has been paid by taxpayers since then.
Deputy de Sausmarez said the States had no power to require Deputy Le Tocq to return his earnings from the current political term, which amount to more than £22,000.
‘To the best of my understanding, there’s no mechanism whereby we could impose that,' she said. 'Obviously, I’m open to exploring all possibilities. As a matter of personal choice, it is something that he might consider.'
Deputy de Sausmarez has been out of the island this week attending a British-Irish Council Summit in Wales, and while there she faced questions from the local media not only about the court case involving Le Tocq, but also the arrest of P&R vice-president Gavin St Pier and his wife on allegations of harassment.
Deputy St Pier and his wife were later released without charge and issued a statement strongly denying the allegations.
Deputy de Sausmarez accepted that the incidents had been disruptive to the States but said her leadership role sometimes required dealing with unpredictable events.
‘This comes with the job description, in terms of expecting the unexpected,’ she said.
‘The point about being in a leadership position is that you have to be able to deal with matters as they occur, rather than how you might like them to be.
‘It was a shock when we first heard the news of Jon, but we acted very quickly and decisively, and we put ourselves in a position where we were able to prioritise the business of government and maintain a fully functioning committee. We dealt with it appropriately and were able to mitigate some of the negative impacts.
‘But I do need to reiterate that the political consequences of this are so much less important than the real-world human consequences on the lives of his victims and family, and the people in our community who have put their trust in him.’
