Chard man avoids jail for animal porn and child sex offences

Andrew McLeod, 34, of Victoria Avenue, Chard, formerly worked for the Ministry of Defence and appeared at Taunton Crown Court on August 12.

McLeod pleaded guilty at Yeovil Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 20, and was convicted of three offences.

The offences involved attempting to show a child under 13 an image or video of sexual activity between September 5 and 26, 2023; attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child between September 6 and 13, 2023; and possessing extreme pornography depicting sex with an animal between July 2011 and May 2024.

Prosecutor Hira Hanif said the extreme pornography included videos of bestiality, including an adult woman performing sex acts with a male dog and a person performing explicit acts with a horse.

The court heard McLeod was having conversations with a 12-year-old during which he said, "I didn’t know you were that young", and asked if the child had Skype and wanted to watch him masturbate.

McLeod sent explicit photos, said he was "horny lying in bed naked", and sent videos of himself masturbating.

McLeod also told a 13-year-old, "Oh, you are young" after learning the child’s age.

He asked whether the child had Skype, had spoken to older men and wanted to watch him; he also told the child he was ‘horny’.

McLeod asked the child for images, offered payment and asked whether they had watched men ‘play with themselves before’.

Mr Anjam Arif, defending, acknowledged the seriousness of the offences and the material recovered from McLeod’s devices.

He said: "Nothing I say on his behalf is intended to minimise that."

The defence said McLeod had no previous convictions, accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Mr Arif said: "This is not a defendant who has sought to avoid taking responsibility.

"He has accepted he was responsible for the accounts and the communications; he accepted the ages [of the victims], that the conversations were sexual and he had sent the relevant material."

The defence said McLeod was remorseful and accepted responsibility for all the videos and searches during police interviews.

It was heard, McLeod said: "I hate myself for it."

Mr Arif said: "He recognised that nobody should be subjected to that type of behaviour."

The defence described McLeod’s actions as a ‘lapse in judgment’ and said there had been no reoffending since the offences.

Mr Arif said: "There has been no reoffending during that lengthy period of time.

"He has had a substantial period to show whether the conduct would continue. It has not."

Mr Arif accepted that none of this excused McLeod’s actions, saying he had ‘deficiencies’ in his thinking and could have responded in ‘other ways’.

He said McLeod’s behaviour was ‘wholly inconsistent with his previous history’ and that he had since entered a stable relationship, stopped using Kik and Snapchat, and avoided pornography.

Mr Arif said McLeod had suffered mental-health problems, including ‘daily suicidal thoughts’ and thoughts of self-harm, making him vulnerable in prison.

He said: "A custodial sentence could damage his already fragile mindset."

McLeod was described as an ‘educated man’ who had a ‘substantial career’ with the Ministry of Defence before being suspended and dismissed after a misconduct hearing.

Judge Shepherd said: "There is much discussion within your pre-sentence report about the harm or risk that you pose to the public.

"That is a perfectly proper discussion to have within the probation report because the probation service recognises that where predominantly men use the internet believing they are talking to underage children, the subject of that conversation, the child, is dehumanised."

Judge Shepherd said McLeod’s graphic sexual conversations with children could have ‘damaged their childhood’ and made them ‘more likely’ to be sexually abused by others.

He said: "You may have opened the gate for that child to be sexually abused by others."

Judge Shepherd also highlighted the ‘particularly sinister aspect’ of offering payment and McLeod’s ‘grooming behaviour’.

He acknowledged McLeod’s good character, stable home life, future prospects, lack of reoffending and early admissions to police.

He said McLeod displayed "no equivocation, no messing about, you put your hands up to everything."

He said: "Most cases of this sort, because of the inherent shame they feel, [defendants] don’t make admissions until later on."

He added: "You have demonstrated you have stayed out of trouble all your life up to committing the offence and you have stayed out of it since, showing you can moderate your behaviour."

McLeod was sentenced to a total of 22 months in prison, suspended for two years.

McLeod must complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 40 rehabilitation activity days, which is more than was recommended, but the judge said he believes he needs it.

He is also subject to notification requirements for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

The court also ordered the deprivation of McLeod’s seized IT devices, disclosure and barring service and made him pay £150 in costs and a victim surcharge of £187.

Judge Shepherd said: "You have damaged the community; you can now help repair the community.

"Mr McLeod, this is the one chance you get. If you breach this order in any way, you go to prison."