Locations
Tealbeck Approach, Otley, West Yorkshire, LS21
Description
A Leeds man has been jailed after pleading guilty to ten child sex offences.
Simon Macfarlane-Smith, 43, from Tealbeck Approach, Otley, was charged with ten offences. These include three offences of making indecent images of children, three offences of sexual communication with a child, three offences of causing a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity and one offence of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
He was discovered when West Yorkshire Police received information in December 2020, indicating the user of an IP address was sharing images of indecent children. A warrant was then executed at the address and numerous items were seized.
Items from his devices were also sent off to the digital forensic unit. On his computer, hundreds of indecent images were found dating from December 2012 to February 2021.
The police also found information that he was engaging in sexual communication with a child. These communications offences took place form January 2021 to February 2021.
On Monday, June 19, 2023, he was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to 40 months in jail. He was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and must sign on the sex offenders register for life.
Police Constable Kate Davis of Bradford District’s Policing Online Investigation team said: "Macfarlane Smith is a dangerous sexual predator.
"He went to extreme lengths to cover up his activities and his intentions to cause serious harm to children. We hope this sentence sends a clear message that we take all reports of online activity seriously and we"are committed to protecting children from sexual abuse."