A MAN who viewed indecent cartoons of pre-pubescent children for a second time has been sentenced to 160 hours of community service.
The Royal Court heard yesterday that 30-year-old Daniel Thomas Leigh had viewed 55 cartoon images of male and female children despite having already served a prison sentence for the same offence four years ago.
Crown Advocate Luke Sette, prosecuting, said that States police officers had gone to his home in an unannounced visit on 21 June 2022 and found the images on two devices.
In July 2019, Leigh was sentenced to two years in prison for making prohibited images of children.
The court heard that Leigh was considered at moderate risk of reconviction, with Advocate Sette saying the offence merited a jail sentence. He recommended 15 months鈥 imprisonment and a fine of 拢2,500 to cover costs.
Advocate James Bell, defending, argued for a non-custodial sentence.
He said: 鈥淢r Leigh wishes to offer his sincere apologies to the court. He has only been in court once before. He only has one previous conviction, dealt with in 2019.
鈥淗e genuinely regrets finding himself before the court in this context again.鈥
Advocate Bell stressed that the images were cartoons, rather than photographs, and pointed out that Leigh had pleaded guilty early.
He said Leigh had been deemed suitable for a community service order and had already spent the equivalent of three and a half months in custody. He said: 鈥淔ifteen months for 55 images is too high.鈥
Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae said the 鈥渃ustodial threshold had been passed鈥 but the Jurats were sparing him prison.
He told Leigh it was 鈥渁 serious offence鈥 but added: 鈥淭hey were not real children. The production of such images does not involve the abuse of children. The criminality is of a different order.
鈥淲e accept your expression of regret and that there were a relatively small number of images.鈥
As well as the community service order, Leigh was given a 15-month probation order and was told to pay 拢1,000 in costs.
The two devices containing the images are to be destroyed.
Jurats Andrew Cornish and Alison Opfermann were sitting.
