Carmarthen Man Jailed Over ‘Paedophile Hunter’ Claims

A Carmarthen man who arranged to sexually abuse a five-year-old girl has been jailed for 40 months after a judge dismissed his “laughable” claims that he was actually a paedophile hunter. 😠

Julian Jakeman, 39, of Priory Street, made contact with what he believed was the girl’s father on messaging app Kik in October 2021, but was actually speaking to an undercover police officer from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit.

The court heard Jakeman discussed renting an Airbnb property where he planned to abuse the child, even setting out “rules” for the meeting including that the girl must not be caused pain during the sexual activity.

When arrested, Jakeman told officers he had been “posing as paedophile online in order to hunt down sex offenders” – claims he maintained right up until changing his plea on the first day of trial and even repeated to probation officers.

Judge Paul Thomas KC at Swansea Crown Court said: “It is clear to me, despite your assertions to the author of the pre-sentence report in April this year, that you have a deep-seated sexual interest in children, in particular for young girls. In other words, Mr Jakeman – if you accept it or not – you are a paedophile.”

Police found 23,780 messages on Jakeman’s phone across 1,000 different chat logs, with 28 containing discussions about sexual matters or sharing indecent images. Officers also discovered 51 indecent images, including 13 Category A images showing the most serious forms of abuse.

The judge told Jakeman that no meaningful rehabilitation work could be done until he accepted the reality of what he was, describing his paedophile hunter story as “laughable”.

Jakeman pleaded guilty to arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and three counts of possession of indecent images. He will serve up to half his sentence in custody before being released on licence and will remain on the sex offenders register for life. ⚖️