Gary Johnson 54

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A MAN from Abergele was sentenced to prison after making more than 800 indecent photographs of children.

Gary Johnson, 53, of Tegfan, was jailed for two years and eight months at Caernarfon Crown Court today (March 23).

He was also handed an indefinite restraining order and a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), while he was made subject to sex offenders register notification requirements indefinitely.

Prosecuting, Rosemary Proctor told the court that Johnson’s home was searched by North Wales Police officers on January 5, 2022 following a referral from the National Crime Agency.

This resulted in his phone and laptop being seized, and the following was found:

• 591 Category C indecent images of a child.
• 100 Category B indecent images of a child.
• 130 Category A indecent images of a child.
• 23 images which portrayed a person performing oral sex with a horse.

The majority of the images, which Johnson had made himself, depicted females aged between three and seven, with the youngest child being two years old.

In a small number of images, the child depicted was shown to be in distress, while in others, a different child was tied up while being abused.

Others were pseudo images, namely digitally modified photos of childhood photographs.

Johnson then set up an online message thread inviting people to share similar photos with him via the app “Kik”.

When interviewed by police in October 2022, he denied being sexually attracted to children, but admitted being sexually attracted to one of the people he made digitally modified images of.

A statement from one of Johnson’s victims read that they had suffered serious mental health issues as a result of his actions.

They were said to have “really turned my life around”, but then added their “life has turned upside down” once again following a visit from the police in October 2022.

The victim felt “completely betrayed", “angry”, “scared” and “violated”.

They added: “This whole process has made question who I trust. These images were made on a public forum, and I had no control over who viewed them.”

Johnson had one previous conviction for actual bodily harm more than 20 years ago.

Defending, Elen Owen said Johnson had told her: "Whatever punishment I get, I deserve it”.

His life was said to have changed after more than two decades in the Armed Forces, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he found himself alone and working from home.

There was also evidence that the Kik app had been deleted from his devices prior to the police seizing them.

Johnson has lost his job since this matter came to light, and was said to be fearing also losing his home.

His actions had “torn the family apart”, Ms Owen said, with his adult children now estranged from him.

She added that Johnson had “shown extreme remorse” and has completed a course with Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse.

Sentencing, Judge Nicola Saffman told Johnson: “(There were) images of real children being raped, being abused, being tortured… this is not a victimless crime.

“Real children suffered as a result of what you sought out.

“You then joined this online community of like-minded individuals - I’ll call you all paedophiles, because that’s what you are.

“You had an active involvement in a network that facilitated the creation and sharing of images of children.”

The terms of Johnson’s SHPO include him being prohibited from:

• Using any computer or device capable of accessing the Internet unless notifying police, who must ensure it has the capacity to retain and display Internet use.
• Deleting his Internet browsing history.
• Withholding his devices from being investigated by police on their request.
• Using “incognito mode” or “private browsing”.
• Using any social media profile under any name other than Gary Johnson, or another police-approved name.
• Living in any household with a child younger than 18, or entering and remaining in any such household, unless express approval is provided from social services.
• Engaging in unsupervised contact or communication of any kind with a child younger than 18, other than that which is inadvertent, or with the consent of the child’s parent or guardian, who has knowledge of his conviction, and with social services’ express approval.

Johnson must also notify police of any changes to his address and name.

His indefinite restraining order prohibited him from contacting one of his victims directly or indirectly, attending any premises where he knows or believes they reside, work, or study, or referring to them on the Internet directly or indirectly (or encouraging any third party to do so).

To the victim in question, who appeared in court, Judge Saffman added: “It has taken a lot of courage for you to attend court today. Don’t be crushed by this.”