Jason Leonard, the Haslingden Paedophile, is described by police bosses as ‘one of the most dangerous’ registered sex offenders in the region after trying to travel to other countries to have sex with children.
The 37-year-old, Jason Leonard, from Haslingden, brazenly admitted to wanting the freedom to travel to a country where the age of consent is lower so he could form a sexual relationship.
Jason Leonard had told police his ‘ideal’ partner would be aged between 12 and 14.
He claims paedophiles in the UK are being ‘persecuted’ and likens his treatment by society to that of ‘homosexuals 40 years ago’.
Jason Leonard was jailed for 32 months in 2013 after downloading 251 indecent images of children and then sharing them on the internet.
He was given a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) to monitor his internet use, however Lancashire Police said it was no longer ‘sufficient to manage his risk’ and were granted a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) by magistrates in April 2018.
The SHPO includes additional measures preventing benefit claimant Jason Leonard from having any unsupervised contact with a child under 16 without express permission of a parent/guardian or social services and does not allow him to travel outside the UK without prior written permission from the chief constable of the area he is living in.
Jason Leonard claimed the new order was ‘completely disproportionate’ and made an appeal to Burnley Crown Court to have the SHPO revoked.
However, after losing a court appeal, he will now only be granted permission to travel abroad if he has written permission from a police chief constable.
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