Prison for man with “unhealthy sexual proclivities”

Friday 07 April 2023

A 36-year-old man - who had posed as 16-year-old online - has been imprisoned for two years and given a lengthy notification order for possessing indecent images of children.

Neil De Jersey pleaded guilty to six counts of making and possessing the files and was sentenced in the Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

15 category A, 11 category B, and 12 category C images and videos had been downloaded to the defendant's iPhone.

De Jersey was also found to be in possession of 11 category A, 23 category B, and 168 category C images and videos across the same phone and an iPad. 

The offending period for making the images was between 25 May and 31 July 2022, while the period for possession stretched from 1 March to 4 November 2022.

Crown Advocate Fiona Russell told the court that Guernsey Police received a tip-off from UK authorities that De Jersey was communicating online with a “clear sexual interest in children”.

He was charged with a telecommunications offence and his devices were seized. During the first interview, De Jersey stated he used the devices for “streaming football”. He declined to comment on other questions.

At a second interview - after his devices had been examined - De Jersey explained he had used usernames to talk to individuals online, saying he was a 16-year-old male to girls he believed to be at least 14-year-old.  

He told officers he had developed a sexual interest in children in the past few years, had been intoxicated on some occasions while offending, and admitted that he needed help.

Pictured: De Jersey had more than a hundred indecent images on two devices.

Defence Advocate Liam Roffey said defendants in these cases were usually “evasive” and unwilling to change. This was not the case for De Jersey, he argued, who admitted ownership, disclosed pin codes, and provided a “very candid account” which went beyond the charges brought against him.

He also said that the “number of visually unique images” was much lower than the total uncovered by Police. But Advocate Roffey accepted that there was “very little” he could offer in terms of offence mitigation.

The investigation had caused a marriage breakdown, the termination of employment, and the loss of many friends for De Jersey. But his family had remained supportive.

De Jersey was noted as seeking out professional help to address his behaviour for which he felt “shame and remorse”. This included an accredited online course and a therapist.  

Nevertheless, Advocate Roffey said his client expected to be sent to prison.

Pictured: De Jersey was sentenced in the Magistrate's Court. 

Judge Gary Perry accepted that De Jersey had not wasted the courts time and gave him credit for his cooperation. But he said the “evidence was clear”, with the number of images being an aggravating factor, some of which were of the worst kind.

He said the court was bound to follow the relevant case law while sentencing.

“The mere existence of people like you… causes great fear in our society,” Judge Perry said, criticizing his “unhealthy sexual proclivities” which had gone “undetected for some time”.

De Jersey was sentenced to a total of two years in prison across all counts. 

An extended sentence of 18-months was imposed, restricting his use of the internet, and barring him from contact with female children. He was also made subject to a 10-year notification order.

The forfeiture and destruction of the offending devices was also ordered.