A Honeywood Paedophile former soldier, Jonathan Mathias, with deviant inclinations was apprehended after proposing to provide child exploitation movies featuring infants to an undercover police officer. Jonathan Mathias threatened to upload images of an individual resembling a 14-year-old girl on Facebook unless she engaged in a sexual act.
Jonathan Mathias, 41, of Honeywood, Newcastle-under-Lyme, was apprehended at his parents’ residence in Porthcawl on September 29 of the previous year, in the presence of his wife. Once he was beyond the range of his family’s hearing, he confessed to the officers that he understood the reason for their presence but asserted that he was ‘merely fooling about’.
During a sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday, it was revealed that the undercover officer established a profile on the Kik messaging app and initiated communication with the defendant, who requested to ‘exchange images’. Jonathan Mathias transmitted images of a young girl being mistreated and a photograph of children’s pants, asserting that he had perpetrated abuse against a little girl, according to WalesOnline.
The police obtained a warrant as a result of this and arrested Jonathan Mathias who initially made no reply. A Samsung phone was seized and, when examined, was found to contain 39 indecent images of children and seven extreme pornographic images, as well as 66 videos of child abuse and nine videos of extreme pornography.
Prosecutor Clare Wilks told the court there were a number of ‘small children’ depicted in the videos – the youngest of which was just a baby. Among the chats on Jonathan Mathias’ phone was a conversation with someone claiming to be a 14-year-old girl in which he threatened to post photos of her on Facebook unless she performed oral sex upon her brother. The defendant had also visited websites related to bestiality.
Dad Jonathan Mathias pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of indecent images and possession of extreme images. The court heard he was of previous good character.
In mitigation, Tim Petrides said his client had been a member of the Royal Welch Fusiliers and had served tours of Iraq and Northern Ireland, as well as being a member of the prison service. He said the defendant had been diagnosed with PTSD and felt “shame, remorse, and acceptance of harm” as a result of his offending.
Judge Wayne Beard sentenced Mathias to two years and four months imprisonment. Jonathan Mathias also made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements for 10 years.
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