Scarborough man locked up for 12 months after inciting young girl to take lewd pictures

Jamie-Luke Malee, 27, was arrested after police searched his home in Eastfield and seized various devices including a laptop, two iPhones and a wall-mounted computer, York Crown Court heard.

Analysis of the computer revealed that he had possessed or downloaded 62 indecent photos and videos of children, said prosecutor Kelly Sherif.

She said that most of the images were of an under-age teen girl who had been persuaded by Malee to film herself performing sexual acts.

Malee was initially arrested in September 2019, after which further police investigations revealed he had been communicating with the girl over the internet.

“The videos and images found on his devices were of the young female,” said Ms Sherif.

Malee was re-arrested in January 2020 when police again searched his home.

As well as finding more downloaded images, they found messages sent between him and the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Ms Sherif said that all but five of the images, downloaded between December 2017 and September 2019, were of the young girl.

She said that Malee had “solicited” the images from the girl and there was a “degree of telling her what to do”.

Malee - who has since moved to Doncaster where he lives with his partner - was brought in for questioning but remained silent and refused to hand over the pin code for his phone.

He was charged with two counts of making indecent photos of a child, taking an indecent photograph of a child, and engaging in sexual communication with a minor.

He pleaded guilty to all offences and appeared for sentence on Wednesday July 20.

Neil Cutte, mitigating, said that Malee, a former rail worker, had never been in trouble before and was remorseful for his actions.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Malee: “You engaged in sexual communication with (the victim) and that resulted, at your behest, (in) her sending you sexual images of her performing acts on herself, and you kept those images for a long time, no doubt for your own gratification.”

Mr Morris said the offences were so serious that it had to be a sentence of immediate custody because Malee had persuaded a young girl “to perform sexual acts for you”.

Malee, now of St John’s Road, Balby, was jailed for 12 months, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years and slapped with a six-year sexual-harm prevention order to curb his online activities and restrict his contact with children.