(Credit: Jason Evans, Wales Online)
(Archive: https://archive.ph/wip/3Qh04)
A man sexually assaulted a young boy and filmed himself performing sex acts in front of the toddler then shared the videos with like-minded paedophiles online. Jonathan Walker also downloaded and distributed scores of vile videos of children and babies being abused and raped with the youngest victim in the clips estimated to be just a matter of months old.
Walker was arrested in a pub car park after a tip-off from the FBI in America and tried to smash his phone to destroy evidence as he was detained by plain-clothes police officers. Handing the 33-year-old man an extended sentence a judge told him she had had "serious concerns" about the risk he posed to children and she said she was sure he should be categorised as a dangerous offender.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that in March this year South Wales Police received information from UK's National Crime Agency about suspect online activity. The information had come as a result of an ongoing FBI investigation into images shared on the Kik messaging app. Laurence Jones, prosecuting, said Walker was identified as the app user in question and his car was traced to a pub car park. The plain-clothes officers went into the bar and spoke to staff and a short time later Walker emerged. The 33-year-old was arrested and a brief struggle ensued in the car park during which he tried to smash his iPhone on the floor as he attempted to flee.
The prosecutor said Walker answered "no comment" to all questions asked during his subsequent interview and his attempts to break the phone proved "futile" as officers were able to access it and download the contents The court heard officers found more than 160 indecent images and videos on the phone of which 112 were Category A showing the most extreme kinds of sexual abuse including the "violent rape" of babies aged just a few months old in images the prosecutor described as "vile and difficult to comprehend". Also on the phone were 178 images of extreme pornography involving bestiality. The court heard officers also found videos Walker had filmed of himself masturbating in front of a young child. Police identified the child in the clips and it then emerged Walker had sexually assaulted the youngster on a number of occasions. The investigation of the phone also showed Walker had been sharing images and videos – including some of the Category A images and some of the videos he had recorded himself – with other "like-minded people" on messaging apps Kik, Telegram, and Signal and had been engaging in highly sexual conversations about children with other users.
Jonathan David Walker, of Pontsticill, Merthyr, had previously pleaded guilt to multiple counts of sexual assault by touching, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, possession of indecent images, distribution of indecent images, and to the possession of extreme pornography when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has a previous conviction for harassing a former partner – an offence for which he was given a community order that he was subject to at the time of his sexual offending.
In an impact statement from the mother of the child Walker abused and filmed which was read to the court she said following the abuse the youngster's behaviour had changed – becoming disruptive at school, wetting the bed, and being frightened that "monsters" were coming. The mum said the thought of what Walker had done to her child made her physically sick and she didn't think she or her child would ever get over it.
Nick Gedge, for Walker, said the defendant's best mitigation was his guilty pleas. He said his client maintained that experiences in childhood led him to turning to cannabis at the age of 10 and then cocaine in his late teens though he accepted the author of the pre-sentence report was "sceptical" about his account. The barrister said Walker's offending had been committed "in the fog of heavy cocaine use" and that his client wanted, through him, to express his "remorse and shame" for what he had done.
Judge Catherine Richards said it was clear from the online chatlogs police had recovered that Walker's abuse and filming of his young victim had been "calculated and planned". She said she was "seriously concerned" about the risk he posed to children and was sure an extended sentence was necessary to manage that risk. Walker was made the subject of an extended 13-year sentence comprising seven and a half years in custody followed by a five-and-a-half-year extended licence period. He can apply to be released after serving two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be let out. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.
(Link: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/...paedophiles-calculated-planned-abuse-27393525)
(Archive: https://archive.ph/wip/3Qh04)
A man sexually assaulted a young boy and filmed himself performing sex acts in front of the toddler then shared the videos with like-minded paedophiles online. Jonathan Walker also downloaded and distributed scores of vile videos of children and babies being abused and raped with the youngest victim in the clips estimated to be just a matter of months old.
Walker was arrested in a pub car park after a tip-off from the FBI in America and tried to smash his phone to destroy evidence as he was detained by plain-clothes police officers. Handing the 33-year-old man an extended sentence a judge told him she had had "serious concerns" about the risk he posed to children and she said she was sure he should be categorised as a dangerous offender.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that in March this year South Wales Police received information from UK's National Crime Agency about suspect online activity. The information had come as a result of an ongoing FBI investigation into images shared on the Kik messaging app. Laurence Jones, prosecuting, said Walker was identified as the app user in question and his car was traced to a pub car park. The plain-clothes officers went into the bar and spoke to staff and a short time later Walker emerged. The 33-year-old was arrested and a brief struggle ensued in the car park during which he tried to smash his iPhone on the floor as he attempted to flee.
The prosecutor said Walker answered "no comment" to all questions asked during his subsequent interview and his attempts to break the phone proved "futile" as officers were able to access it and download the contents The court heard officers found more than 160 indecent images and videos on the phone of which 112 were Category A showing the most extreme kinds of sexual abuse including the "violent rape" of babies aged just a few months old in images the prosecutor described as "vile and difficult to comprehend". Also on the phone were 178 images of extreme pornography involving bestiality. The court heard officers also found videos Walker had filmed of himself masturbating in front of a young child. Police identified the child in the clips and it then emerged Walker had sexually assaulted the youngster on a number of occasions. The investigation of the phone also showed Walker had been sharing images and videos – including some of the Category A images and some of the videos he had recorded himself – with other "like-minded people" on messaging apps Kik, Telegram, and Signal and had been engaging in highly sexual conversations about children with other users.
Jonathan David Walker, of Pontsticill, Merthyr, had previously pleaded guilt to multiple counts of sexual assault by touching, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, possession of indecent images, distribution of indecent images, and to the possession of extreme pornography when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has a previous conviction for harassing a former partner – an offence for which he was given a community order that he was subject to at the time of his sexual offending.
In an impact statement from the mother of the child Walker abused and filmed which was read to the court she said following the abuse the youngster's behaviour had changed – becoming disruptive at school, wetting the bed, and being frightened that "monsters" were coming. The mum said the thought of what Walker had done to her child made her physically sick and she didn't think she or her child would ever get over it.
Nick Gedge, for Walker, said the defendant's best mitigation was his guilty pleas. He said his client maintained that experiences in childhood led him to turning to cannabis at the age of 10 and then cocaine in his late teens though he accepted the author of the pre-sentence report was "sceptical" about his account. The barrister said Walker's offending had been committed "in the fog of heavy cocaine use" and that his client wanted, through him, to express his "remorse and shame" for what he had done.
Judge Catherine Richards said it was clear from the online chatlogs police had recovered that Walker's abuse and filming of his young victim had been "calculated and planned". She said she was "seriously concerned" about the risk he posed to children and was sure an extended sentence was necessary to manage that risk. Walker was made the subject of an extended 13-year sentence comprising seven and a half years in custody followed by a five-and-a-half-year extended licence period. He can apply to be released after serving two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be let out. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.
(Link: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/...paedophiles-calculated-planned-abuse-27393525)
