This paedophile was also convicted under the name Jonathan Scarcliffe in 2005 Click HERE for info on that case November 2016 Pervert jailed for downloading indecent images of children Pervert Jon McGowan has been jailed after he downloaded indecent images of children weeks after being released from prison for a similar offence. The 48-year-old was released from a jail sentence for making indecent images of children on March 11 but was arrested when police visited his home on April 22. Prosecutor Andrew Wilkins told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court: “Police asked him whether he had anything capable of connecting to the internet or storing digital images. He handed over a mobile phone. It had a memory card which contained seven category C images. “He failed to hand over a further memory stick and another phone was also found.” McGowan, formerly of Pinnox Street, Tunstall, now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs of a child. Judge David Fletcher jailed McGowan for six months and made him the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will run until further order. The judge warned McGowan that if he re-offends he could go to prison for years rather than months. May 2015 47-year-old jailed after being caught with hundreds of indecent images of young children ‘PREDATORY paedophile’ Jon McGowan was caught with more than 1,600 explicit images and videos of children as young as nine years old The 47-year-old was also spotted in Asda, Tunstall, meeting up with a fellow sex offender he had befriended at a support group. Now McGowan, of Pinnox Street, Tunstall, has been jailed for nearly two years. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how McGowan stored the images on his personal computer and mobile phone so they were ‘easily accessible’. Prosecutor Heather Chamberlin said: “The defendant was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) in March 2013 following a conviction which prohibited him from associating with any other like-minded person. “He met a gentleman in a support group and was later spotted with him by a probation officer in Asda, Tunstall.” Miss Chamberlin added: “The defendant had a USB drive and a Samsung mobile phone at home. “They were examined by police who found they contained indecent images. “When the police went to his address he was on the settee and they noticed a charger plugged into a wall. They found a mobile phone which had an application installed on it which automatically wiped the phone’s history, something he was also prohibited from doing under the order.” The court heard McGowan had 46 category B images, 1,513 category C images and 61 videos or images which were category A – the most serious. The defendant previously served almost eight years behind bars for child sex offences following a conviction in 2005. He pleaded guilty to making indecent photos of a child and breaching his SOPO. Kevin Mortlock, mitigating, said: “Mr McGowan leads a solitary and isolated life. “He has his own feelings of mistrust and ended up forming a friendship with another gentleman and they were seen together by a probation officer who knew them both. “The defendant is realistic and says that he has had thoughts of this nature since he was a child. He acknowledges there’s work to be done. In the past he has had courses offered to him and he has participated. Since 2013 he has not offended again and he has been under intense scrutiny from probation.” Jailing McGowan for 20 months, Judge Paul Glenn said: “It’s quite plain that when you got out of prison you renewed your interest in images of children and your preferred material is boys up to the age of nine years old. Your attraction to young boys apparently remains undiminished and the risk you represent is obvious.” April 2005 Two men jailed for sex offences Two men who sexually assaulted children and had more than 6,000 indecent images on their computers between them were jailed on Friday. Jonathan Scarcliffe and David Bell admitted 26 charges including taking, possessing and distributing images to gross indecency and sexual assault. Scarcliffe, 37, from Leamington Spa, Warks, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years at Warwick Crown Court. Bell, 44, from Birtley, Tyne and Wear, received a four year jail term. ‘Position of trust’ On Thursday, the court was told that following his arrest Scarcliffe told police no youngster was safe from him. “I have become a monster”, he told officers. Sentencing Scarcliffe, Judge Marten Coates said he had been the “leading light” of the pair. He said: “You are a predatory paedophile in the true sense. Your victims were young and probably didn’t fully understand what was happening.” He added the offences committed by Bell, a former Boys Brigade leader, from Morris Street in Birtley, were not as serious or persistent as Scarcliffe’s. One of the victims was a toddler aged 17 months, with others ranging in age from four to 12. Their ordeal was filmed or photographed and posted on the internet to be viewed or downloaded by other paedophiles. The pair were arrested as part of Operation Jinks, a joint US-British police initiative which also led to a former primary school teacher from Leamington Spa – who knew Scarcliffe and Bell – being jailed for nine months in February for child pornography offences. Prosecutor Michael Burrows said police found 1,398 indecent images of children on Scarcliffe’s computer and 5,108 on one belonging to Bell. ‘Harrowing case’ Some images were at the highest end of a scale to assess the seriousness of child pornography, and had been disguised or erased with encryption software, the prosecutor said. Det Sgt Ally Wright, from Warwickshire Police, said the case had been “harrowing”, and his thoughts were with Scarcliffe and Bell’s victims and their families. “They believed they could hide evidence of their wicked crimes through use of the internet. “But we now have the technology and expertise in place to close the net on predatory paedophiles who pose such a danger to children all over the world.” Both defendants were ordered to sign on to the sex offenders’ register for life.