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A 30-year-old man who viewed sexual cartoons of boys, girls and "fantasy creatures" – after previously being imprisoned for indecent images offences – has been spared more time in jail after a landmark Royal Court case.
The case involving Daniel Thomas Leigh is understood to be the first time that Jersey's Royal Court has sentenced someone solely for the offence of viewing computer-generated indecent images.
The offence is targeted at pornographic images of children which are non-photographic, including computer-generated images, cartoons, Manga images (a Japanese comic book style) and drawings.
On Friday, Leigh was sentenced to 160 hours of community service after admitting the offence of making prohibited images of children. He was also given a 15-month probation order and must pay costs of £1,000.
The Royal Court heard that Leigh had viewed 55 cartoon images of male and female children whilst being subject to a restraining order following his conviction for making indecent photographs of children in 2019.
Pictured: The case was heard in the Royal Court last week.
Crown Advocate Luke Sette, prosecuting, said that police officers had gone to Leigh's home in an unannounced visit on 21 June 2022 and found the images on two devices.
All of the images were "computer-generated still pictures which show a mix of females, males and other fantasy creatures, ranging in age from approximately 10 years old upwards".
The Court heard that Leigh was considered at moderate risk of reconviction, with Advocate Sette saying the offence merited a jail sentence. He recommended 15 months’ imprisonment and a fine of £2,500 to cover costs.
Advocate James Bell, defending, argued for a non-custodial sentence.
He said: “Mr Leigh wishes to offer his sincere apologies to the court.
"He has only been in court once before. He only has one previous conviction, dealt with in 2019.
“He genuinely regrets finding himself before the court in this context again.”
Advocate Bell stressed that the images were cartoons, rather than photographs, and pointed out that Leigh had pleaded guilty early.
He said Leigh had been deemed suitable for a community service order and had already spent the equivalent of three and a half months in custody.
“Fifteen months for 55 images is too high," added Advocate Bell.
Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae said the “custodial threshold had been passed”, but the Jurats were sparing him prison.
He told Leigh it was “a serious offence” but added: “They were not real children. The production of such images does not involve the abuse of children. The criminality is of a different order.
“We accept your expression of regret and that there were a relatively small number of images.”
As well as the community service order, Leigh was given a 15-month probation order and was told to pay £1,000 in costs.
The two devices containing the images are to be destroyed.
Jurats Andrew Cornish and Alison Opfermann were sitting.
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