A man who attempted to arrange the sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl and later claimed he was acting as a “paedophile hunter” has been sentenced to over three years in prison. Swansea Crown Court heard how Julian Jakeman was apprehended after he made plans with an individual he believed to be the girl’s father—unbeknownst to him, that person was actually an undercover police officer. The 39-year-old from Carmarthen, who maintained his innocence until the outset of his trial, only admitted his guilt at the last moment before reiterating his extraordinary claims to a probation officer during a pre-sentencing interview.
The court was told that a covert operation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit in October 2021 resulted in Jakeman’s capture. Officers had been monitoring online platforms as part of an effort to expose potential child sexual offenders. Jakeman, using an alias and the nickname “TidyGuy2021” on the chat app Kik, initiated a conversation in a public space before moving to more private exchanges with the undercover officer. Almost immediately, Jakeman began discussing explicit sexual matters and sent disturbing images purporting to show his fictitious 17-year-old daughter engaged in sexual acts.
As the conversations progressed, Jakeman inquired about the undercover officer’s family, learning of the existence of a five-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son. Court records reveal that Jakeman expressed a preference for sexually assaulting the young girl, even going so far as to outline rules for an arranged encounter, including the stipulation that the child not be caused pain. It was this alarming dialogue that prompted authorities to intervene.
Following these discoveries, police executed a search warrant at Jakeman’s home. At the property, both Jakeman and his now former partner were present when officers arrived. Jakeman immediately asserted that he had merely been pretending to be a paedophile online in order to expose others, a claim he continued to repeat in interviews with officers and probation staff alike.
Despite Jakeman’s version of events, investigators found no evidence to support his assertions that he had reported alleged offenders to administrators at Kik. Further checks with the company revealed that no such reports had ever been filed by Jakeman, and his former partner expressed shock and distress at being implicated in his cover story.
A forensic examination of Jakeman’s mobile phone uncovered an extensive record of online activity—over 23,000 messages across 1,000 individual chats were logged. Within these communications, 28 instances were identified where Jakeman had either exchanged indecent images or discussed explicit sexual matters. Police also recovered 51 indecent images from the device, including 13 of the most serious category, some depicting the abuse of very young children.
Despite the harrowing nature of the evidence, Jakeman was not charged with distributing these images, a decision the prosecution did not fully explain in court. Ultimately, Jakeman pleaded guilty to arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and three further charges relating to the possession of indecent images. The court confirmed that he had no prior convictions.
Addressing the defendant, Judge Paul Thomas KC dismissed Jakeman’s “laughable” claims of being an online vigilante. The judge highlighted the severe trauma inflicted on real children depicted in the abuse material Jakeman possessed and stressed that any attempt at rehabilitation must start with his acceptance of his criminal proclivities.
In recognition of his late guilty plea—entered only as the trial was due to commence—Jakeman’s sentence was reduced by 10 percent, resulting in a total custodial term of 40 months. He will serve up to half the sentence in prison, after which he will be released on licence to complete the remainder in the community. For the possession of indecent images, he received a further concurrent sentence of eight months.
Jakeman will remain on the sex offenders register for life and is subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, designed to protect the public from future risk. This significant case serves as a sobering reminder of the lengths authorities must go to in order to intercept those seeking to exploit children, while also highlighting the need for vigilance—both online and in everyday life.