February 2015
Judge says: Derbyshire paedophile poses ‘a very grave risk to public’ – Then does not jail him
A PAEDOPHILE who has previously been locked up for watching young girls through binoculars and looking at indecent images of children has now admitted downloading more illegal photographs.
Jason McCall posed “a very grave risk” to members of the public from further offending, Judge Hilary Watson told Derby Crown Court.
She said she had “a very stark choice” to make in sentencing the 38-year-old, who admitted having more than 800 images on his mobile phone in the latest set of offences.
She concluded that the best way of protecting young girls would be to put McCall, who has been locked up since November, on a three-year community sex offender group work programme and to give him a suspended sentence so if he breached the order he would be back behind bars.
Laura Pitman, prosecuting, told the court that McCall was first convicted for sex offences in September 2006, when he was jailed for two years with a four-year extended licence period for possessing more than 10,000 indecent images of girls.
He was released in May 2007 but recalled to prison in September 2008 for using a pair of binoculars to watch girls playing.
While in custody, clippings from magazines of young girls were found in his cell.
In June last year, he was given a three-year community order and put on the sex offenders group work programme, but was locked up in November after police seized his phone and found the images of 10- to 16-year-old girls either naked or in indecent poses.
In sentencing, Judge Watson said: “He has used binoculars on two occasions to look for young girls in the community and on one occasion was found to have young girls in his vehicle.
“It’s this escalation from viewing to involving young girls in the community that indicates aspects of dangerousness.”
Clive Stockwell, for McCall, said: “He is undoubtedly a risk. He has openly expressed a sexual interest in young girls and has not tried to conceal it.”
But he said that McCall was someone who actually wanted help with his problem. Mr Stockwell said his client had not had a chance to engage in the group work programme last time because he had not begun the course before being locked up in November.
McCall, of Chesterfield Road, Alfreton, must sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and obey a sexual offences prevention order indefinitely, which includes not possessing binoculars or a telescope.
He was given an eight-month jail sentence suspended for two years.
