Locations
Scotch Street, Carlisle, CA5
Description
A CONVICTED sex offender living in Carlisle continued to download indecent images of children – despite being under a suspended 12-month jail term.
Johnny Bijou, 49, lost his job and his home because of past offending and was aware that he faced an inevitable jail term if he returned to viewing indecent child images.
Yet he did precisely that within months of being given a suspended jail term for his earlier offending, Carlisle Crown Court heard.
The defendant, formerly of Scotch Street, Carlisle, admitted several new offences.
The first set of crimes related to him downloading indecent child images, including eight of Category A, the most serious kind. He also admitted accessing 10 Category B images, and two Category C images.
The defendant further admitted possessing four extreme pornography images as well as a prohibited image of child. Yet more new offences related to Category B and C indecent child images.
The defendant also breaches his sexual harm prevention order by using a WhatsApp feature that deleted messages by not notifying the police of his email address.
His earlier offences, the court heard, related to earlier occasions when he downloaded dozens of child abuse images. Some 65 of those were Category A.
Defence lawyer Jeff Smith told the court: “He is aware that he has breached his suspended sentence and that a custodial sentence will now follow.
“He has lost this home and his job, but he is optimistic that he can turn things around and that this will be his last appearance before a court.”
Referring to Bijou’s previous offending, which came before the court in July 2023, Judge Michael Fanning told the defendant: “You received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months.
“But having been released from that sentence, you have gone on to further offending shortly after that sentence was imposed.”
Bijou had done exactly what his sexual harm prevention order was imposed to prevent him doing, downloading yet more indecent child images.
Judge Fanning jailed the defendant for three years and six months. The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.