Locations
Cross Road, St Helens, WA9
Description
Police discovered Peter Jemmett had committed sexual assaults over nearly 20 years after his arrest in a paedophile hunter sting in March 2023.
Officers seized his phone and found 42 videos of him abusing a sleeping or deeply intoxicated man, recorded from February 2004 to just a day before his arrest.
The victim was unaware until informed by police and confirmed he "had not consented to any of the acts" and was "very shocked" upon learning of the abuse. Jemmett, 63, formerly of Marshalls Cross Road in St Helens, now claims he is "at a loss" as to why he did it.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the footage showed Jemmett kissing the victim, exposing and touching his penis, and performing oral sex. The assaults stemmed from messages with a decoy child account on a dating app and WhatsApp. He also shared explicit images of the victim with the group, falsely claiming they depicted himself.
In April 2024, Jemmett was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and lifelong sex offender registration for the messaging offenses.
Defending, Charlotte Kenny said: "It is difficult to know what to say in cases of this nature. It is a most unusual case. He has suffered a stroke. He is left handed. He is unable to use his left hand now and has general mobility problems.
"He was educated at a special school. He has speech difficulties.
"He has presented over the years as a somewhat isolated character. Mr Jemmett informs me that, at the time when these acts were taking place, he too was also under the influence of alcohol.
"He does not have a history of earlier offending so far as sexual deviancy is concerned. When I asked the defendant why he thinks he committed the offences, he says that he is very much at a loss."
Jemmett admitted four counts of sexual assault. Appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for an additional 40 months and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Sentencing, Judge Denis Watson KC said: "Not only did you sexually assault him, you did so when he was either asleep or passed out through alcohol. You set up your phone to record on video the acts that you carried out.
"These video clips ranged from a few seconds up towards minutes of activity, throughout which he was utterly unaware of what was going on.
"That this happened on so many occasions over such a prolonged period when he was unconscious and asleep are significant aggravating features.
"The further aggravating feature is that you actually chose to share some of these images to another, that other in fact being a paedophile hunter group who you were corresponding with."