Former Assistant Beaver Leader Jailed for Child Sex Offences

Patrick Jackaman, 25, of Hossack Road, Ipswich, was sentenced at Suffolk Magistrates Court on Friday after being found guilty of making and possessing indecent images of children.

Jackaman pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child last month.

He was arrested in October 2019 after Suffolk Police discovered hundreds of prohibited images and films of children on four devices seized from his home: an iPhone, a PC specialist tower unit, a Macbook Air, and an iPad.

Of the images found, 49 were classified in the most serious 'A' category of indecency, along with 16 videos. There were also 110 category B images and 22 category B videos, 101 category C images and seven category C videos, along with 3,040 prohibited images and 147 prohibited videos of children.

Jackaman had previously volunteered as an assistant beaver leader within the Scout movement. The movement confirmed that Jackaman's role was terminated as soon as the police brought the matter to their attention.

The court heard that Jackaman had no previous convictions and fully cooperated with police during the investigation. Mitigating, Shelley Drew, told the court that Jackaman had been engaging with a course run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity that works to tackle child sexual abuse.

Magistrates stated that Jackaman's offences were "very serious" and could only be addressed with a custodial sentence. They acknowledged his guilty plea by refraining from transferring the case to the crown court.

Jackaman received a 12-month custodial sentence and will be released on license after serving half of this term. He was also subjected to a five-year sexual harm prevention order, placed on the sex offenders' register, and fined £156 as a victim surcharge. The devices seized from his home will be destroyed.