Jude Maruska 23

Description

A paedophile who contacted a teenage girl on Snapchat asking for sexual pictures of her was sent to prison for three years and eight months at Worcester Crown Court on Monday (27 July).

Jude Maruska, 23, of Lingmell Court, Worcester, was already subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for similar offences which he breached several times to contact his victim.

Maruska was convicted of two counts of breaching an SHPO for which he was sentenced to 20 months in prison for each to run concurrently and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228, and one count of causing/inciting a girl 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity (non-penetration) for which he was sentenced to six months in prison consecutively. His mobile phone was also confiscated.

He was already subject to an SHPO which was issued to him in August 2024 when he was given a suspended sentence after also being found guilty of requesting indecent images from children on social media.

For breaching the SHPO his suspended sentence was activated, adding another 18 months consecutively to his term and bringing the total to 44 months imprisonment (three years and eight months).

The terms of the order meant Maruska was prohibited from using any application that does not retain its usage or history on his phone. However, officers from West Mercia Police’s Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) found he had used Snapchat and it had been installed on his phone, during a routine visit last month.

They analysed the content and discovered he had been offending again between May and June by contacting a teenage girl on Snapchat and asking her to send him sexual images.

On Monday 22 June, detectives from South Worcestershire CID charged him with the offences, and Maruska admitted them, adding there was a second girl he also contacted.

Detective Inspector Colin Berry from the MOSOVO team said:

“We are pleased to get a custodial sentence for Maruska who continued to offend, breaching the terms of his SHPO and despite being on suspended sentence.

“We hope this result shows our work to manage offenders is effective in monitoring their behaviour and that we will not hesitate in bringing them back before the courts to face justice if they do re-offend.”