Royal Court for man charged with indecently assaulting a child

Tuesday 08 June 2021

A man will be committed to the Royal Court after being charged with indecently assaulting a child and downloading almost 1,000 indecent photos of children.

Indecent images of children are graded in severity. The man, who is yet to enter a plea, was charged with making 124 images of a category A nature, the most severe and extreme.

When images are downloaded from the internet a copy is made, so the legal terminology for downloading indecent images is ‘making’ a photo.

Additionally, the defendant was charged with making 194 category B images and 641 category C images.

The man has also been charged with indecently assaulting a child in December 2019.

Pictured: The man appeared in the Magistrates Court after being charged earlier this year.

He appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Prosecution Advocate Fiona Russell said the charges were too severe for the Magistrate’s Court and that jurisdiction needed to be transferred to the Royal Court. 

Defence Advocate Chris Green argued only one point, that the bail condition for the defendant to stop using the internet should be relaxed. Advocate Green said his client uses a variety of internet-based apps to tackle his anxiety.

Judge Gary Perry declined the application, saying it would be impossible to police, and there are alternatives to the internet-based apps. 

“They’re called books,” he said. 

The defendant will appear for a committal hearing on 21 July and remains on conditional bail until then.