Each year hundreds of paedophiles and perverts are spared prison sentences for crimes such as viewing indecent images of children, exposing themselves in public and stalking.
Judges tasked with sentencing offenders are given the unenviable task of weighing up competing factors such as punishing offenders, rehabilitating them and protecting the public.
With research showing that short prison sentences do not work to prevent further offending, judges often reach the conclusion that defendants should be spared prison.
These usually leads to a suspended prison sentence - meaning the defendant will not serve the sentence in prison unless they offend again during the period of the suspended sentence.
Here's a round up of South London sex offenders who have been spared jail in 2023.
Richard Eggleton
The two girls said they first encountered Eggleton in 2021 when he began to follow them and shout their names when he passed them in the street.
This behaviour escalated in 2022 when he knocked on one of their doors and asked her mum if her daughter wanted to “come out to play”.
The terrified mum phoned the police and officers warned Eggleton that he cannot approach or talk to the girls again.
However, only a few weeks later he followed them and asked for their Snapchat accounts, the court heard.
The following month police took statements from the two girls after they were again followed by Eggleton.
The court was told that Eggleton was previously convicted of sexual assault in 2007 and in 2014 he was cautioned for exposure after he stood in his front window and masturbated towards girls who were in the street outside.
Eggleton was given a 10 week prison sentence suspended for one and a half years as magistrates said they think his mental health can be managed better outside of prison.
Read the full story - Penge stalker who followed 11-year-old girls spared jail.
John Paul Murphy
John Paul Murphy is said to have lived a “law-abiding life” until he started exposing his genitals while staring at women on trains across east and south east London.
One of his victims described anger at having to put up with the likes of Murphy. In a victim impact statement, she said: “I just want to be able to go through my personal and work life without fear of being sexually harassed.”
Murphy was given a one-year community order including 60 hours of unpaid work.
Murphy was also given a sexual harm prevention order to last for five years, including a requirement that he must wear trousers or shorts of at least knee length when travelling on public transport.
Read the full story - Sex offender given ‘short shorts ban’ after exposing himself to women on DLR.
PC Darren Hourigan
He claimed he “may have been hacked” after he was caught accessing a portal which included 3,490 videos and 295 still images of children.
When he was arrested at his home in March 2020 he told colleagues he had no idea about the images.
In a second interview, PC Hourigan said he had used the file sharing platform to view cycling and athletics videos.
He continued to deny ever viewing indecent images of children but said “I may have been hacked”.
He was given a a 10 month prison sentence suspended for one year.
Paul Hardy
Fortunately, the person Hardy was messaging with an undercover officer who was posing as ‘Matt’, a dad with a seven-year-old daughter.
A court heard that on May 17 last year Hardy asked ‘Matt’ if he likes “family fun”, beginning a conversation about the sexual abuse of children.
He and ‘Matt’ made plans to meet up so that Hardy could sexually abuse the seven-year-old.
While no date was ever settled on, prosecutor Paul Douglas said: “The defendant was clearly enthusiastic about meeting 'Matt' to commit sexual acts with a seven-year-old girl."
Hardy was arrested the following month and while he at first denied any knowledge of the conversation he later admitted that he knew why the officers were there.
He was given a 16-month sentence suspended for two years.
Read the full story - Orpington dad who arranged to abuse '7-year-old girl' spared jail.
Michael and William Lai
Together they collected vile pornography which showed children as young as nine being subjected to horrific abuse.
When National Crime Agency officers raided Michael’s home on Castlemaine Avenue, Croydon, in November 2019 he confessed that he’d been downloading indecent images.
He also told officers that a computer tower and three hard drives in his home belonged to his brother William.
A total of 35,101 images were attributed to Michael, while 11,863 images were attributed to William.
William, of Pheasant Field Drive in Derby, was given a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years, while Michael was given a two-year prison sentence also suspended for two years.
Read the full story - Brothers caught with 47,000 child abuse images in Croydon raid.
Azeddine Mansouri
Azeddine Mansouri, 44, of Brookside Crescent in Sutton, avoided prison after he masturbated in a swimming pool while children were present.
On March 9, 2022, he masturbated in a swimming pool in Sutton then he returned the following day and did it again.
The court heard that children were present at the time.
Mansouri was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for two years.
Read the full story - Sutton man masturbated in a swimming pool with children present.
Neil Chapman
Neil Chapman, 34, from Reigate Road in Bromley, was caught in possession of more than 100 vile images when his home was raided by police in August 2021.
Police intelligence suggested he had uploaded a horrific image to an online forum.
His computer was seized and when questioned about the upload he told police: "It rings a bell but may have been a medical image."
Chapman had previously been in trouble with the law in 2016, when he was caught possessing indecent images of children in nearly identical circumstances.
On that occasion a judge gave him a suspended sentence, so he never served any time in prison.
This time he was given a 16 month suspended sentence.
Daniel Boyd
He sent grooming messages and photos of his penis to the ‘young girl’ before arranging to meet for sex.
But when he arrived at Bromley South Station armed with condoms and lube, he found himself confronted by paedophile hunters who ran the decoy account he had been messaging.
He was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Read the full story - Bromley pervert caught with condoms and lube at meet with 14-year-old girl.
Marcus Anthony Cook
A dog walker spotted Marcus Anthony Cook standing in Poverest Recreation Ground in Orpington with his hands on his hips and his manhood hanging out of his unzipped flies.
He had indecently exposed himself in public so many times that a court previously ordered him always to have two articles of clothing covering his private area.
“I must have gone to the toilet and forgotten to zip my flies up,” he said.
He was given a community order rather than a prison sentence.
Matthew Lucas
He had previously been spared prison for identical offences.
This time Lucas was given an eight month sentence suspended for one and a half years.
Read the full story - Paedo told therapist he downloads photos of babies in nappies being abused.
Anders Diaz Huiza
In spring 2021 he watched vile videos of children being sexually abused on a laptop that was being loaned to him by New City College.
Read the full story - Student avoids prison after sexually assaulting 15-year-old girl.
The horrific videos which were found on that laptop and other devices which belonging to him included some which showed children as young as four being raped by men.
After Huiza was arrested for possession of indecent images he was released on bail to his home on Newington Causeway in Elephant and Castle.
On September 24, 2021, he then sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl by entering her flat and getting into bed with her.
He was given a sentence of one year and nine months, suspended for two years.
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