Jonathan Scarcliffe has now changed his name to Jon McGowan and was jailed for further child sexual offences in May 2015 – Click HERE for information 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.