Mechanic who took photos of girls out of window caught with more than 1,000 child abuse images
A bike mechanic who took pictures of teenage girls out of his window was caught with more than 1,000 child abuse images on his computer.
Jeffery Perry, 45, admitted encouraging girls he was talking to on chat sites to show him their breasts using web cams and showing them his genitals at the same time.
Sentencing him at Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Eleri Rees told him: “These are real children whose lives are ruined, their childhoods stolen from them.”
The court heard the offending occurred over a five-year period starting in 2013.
Julian Greenwood, prosecuting, said police searched his home in Fairwater on January 2 after receiving intelligence from the National Crime Agency.
Perry was at home with his parents at the time and computer equipment including his laptop and two hard drives were seized.
Prosecutors said the defendant confirmed the items belonged to him and had not been used by anyone else.
Analysis revealed he had more than 1,000 indecent images of children including 20 pictures and five films of the most serious Category A.
Officers discovered 52 pictures and 11 films of Category B along with 947 pictures and 10 films of Category C.
There were nine prohibited images – cartoons of children engaged in sexual activity.
Analysis also revealed 47 extreme pornographic images showing women engaged in sexual activity with animals.
The court heard Perry used sites including Chatstep and Teen Chat.
Prosecutors said he used a split screen function which showed the girl he was talking to on one side with himself on the other side.
Perry was arrested and taken to Cardiff Bay Police Station where he admitted visiting Russian websites to access indecent images of children, which he downloaded to his laptop.
He told officers he used chat sites to “find women” but accepted talking to girls – mostly aged between 13 and 15 – because he found them “chattier” and “less judgemental”.
The defendant stated he used web cams to show the girls his genitals and they showed him their breasts.
He admitted recording those “chats” and saving them to his laptop.
Perry accepted viewing indecent images of children as young as four but said he found those images “disgusting” and did not know why he had looked at them.
He told officers he had made a “big mistake” and felt ashamed, adding he had “a problem” which had “spiralled out of control”.
The court heard he also took photographs of girls in their early teens from his bedroom window as they walked past, describing them as “cute”.
Prosecutors said he had a previous conviction for indecent exposure dating back to September 1996 after he exposed himself to women on Llantwit Major beach.
Perry, from Amethyst Road in Fairwater, Cardiff, admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children as well as possessing prohibited images and extreme pornography.
He also pleaded guilty to causing a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
Judge Rees said: “This industry only thrives because there are customers for it, such as yourself. You directly contribute to the abuse of those children.”
Perry was given a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete the Horizon programme, which is designed to treat sex offenders.
The judge made a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered the computer equipment to be destroyed. The defendant must pay £670 towards prosecution costs and a £140 victim surcharge.