An individual, Gary Johnson, from Abergele was incarcerated for producing over 800 obscene images of minors.
Gary Johnson, 53, of Tegfan, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison at Caernarfon Crown Court on March 23.
Gary Johnson received an indefinite restraining order and a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), and he is subject to indefinite notification obligations of the sex offenders register.
During the prosecution, Rosemary Proctor informed the court that Gary Johnson’s residence was searched by North Wales Police on January 5, 2022, subsequent to a referral from the National Crime Agency.
This resulted in his phone and laptop being seized, and the following was found:
- 591 Category C indecent images of a child.
- 100 Category B indecent images of a child.
- 130 Category A indecent images of a child.
- 23 images which portrayed a person performing oral sex with a horse.
The majority of the images, which Gary Johnson had made himself, depicted females aged between three and seven, with the youngest child being two years old.
In a small number of images, the child depicted was shown to be in distress, while in others, a different child was tied up while being abused.
Others were pseudo images, namely digitally modified photos of childhood photographs.
Gary Johnson then set up an online message thread inviting people to share similar photos with him via the app “Kik”.
When interviewed by police in October 2022, he denied being sexually attracted to children, but admitted being sexually attracted to one of the people he made digitally modified images of.
A statement from one of Gary Johnson’s victims read that they had suffered serious mental health issues as a result of his actions.
They were said to have “really turned my life around”, but then added their “life has turned upside down” once again following a visit from the police in October 2022.
The victim felt “completely betrayed”, “angry”, “scared” and “violated”.
They added: “This whole process has made question who I trust. These images were made on a public forum, and I had no control over who viewed them.”
Gary Johnson had one previous conviction for actual bodily harm more than 20 years ago.
Defending, Elen Owen said Gary Johnson had told her: “Whatever punishment I get, I deserve it”.
His life was said to have changed after more than two decades in the Armed Forces, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he found himself alone and working from home.
There was also evidence that the Kik app had been deleted from his devices prior to the police seizing them.
Gary Johnson has lost his job since this matter came to light, and was said to be fearing also losing his home.
His actions had “torn the family apart”, Ms Owen said, with his adult children now estranged from him.
She added that Gary Johnson had “shown extreme remorse” and has completed a course with Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse.
Sentencing, Judge Nicola Saffman told Johnson: “(There were) images of real children being raped, being abused, being tortured… this is not a victimless crime.
“Real children suffered as a result of what you sought out.
“You then joined this online community of like-minded individuals – I’ll call you all paedophiles, because that’s what you are.
“You had an active involvement in a network that facilitated the creation and sharing of images of children.”
The terms of Gary Johnson’s SHPO include him being prohibited from:
- Using any computer or device capable of accessing the Internet unless notifying police, who must ensure it has the capacity to retain and display Internet use.
- Deleting his Internet browsing history.
- Withholding his devices from being investigated by police on their request.
- Using “incognito mode” or “private browsing”.
- Using any social media profile under any name other than Gary Johnson, or another police-approved name.
- Living in any household with a child younger than 18, or entering and remaining in any such household, unless express approval is provided from social services.
- Engaging in unsupervised contact or communication of any kind with a child younger than 18, other than that which is inadvertent, or with the consent of the child’s parent or guardian, who has knowledge of his conviction, and with social services’ express approval.
Gary Johnson must also notify police of any changes to his address and name.
His indefinite restraining order prohibited him from contacting one of his victims directly or indirectly, attending any premises where he knows or believes they reside, work, or study, or referring to them on the Internet directly or indirectly (or encouraging any third party to do so).
To the victim in question, who appeared in court, Judge Saffman added: “It has taken a lot of courage for you to attend court today. Don’t be crushed by this.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 111 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.