Pervert took 'upskirt' photos of Telford children using camera fitted on shoe
A pervert who used a camera fitted on a shoe to take 'upskirt' photos of children in Telford has been locked up.
Geoffrey Jones was jailed for three years on Friday after he used a modified camera adapted to fit on a shoe to take photos up children's dresses.
The 61-year-old, who had been convicted of sexual offences before, predominantly took the photos in public shopping areas around Telford and was found with hard drives containing indecent images of children.
Police raided Jones' home in Market Street, Oakengates, earlier this year after a member of the public raised concerns about his behaviour.
There officers seized a number of devices, including the specially-adapted camera, which were found to contain images of the 'upskirting' victims taken around Telford , as well as three category C indecent images of children.
Jones was arrested on February 3 and was charged to appear before Telford Magistrates Court on February 5, where he pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children, outraging public decency and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
He appeared before Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday and was sentenced to 36 months behind bars.
Reacting to the sentence, Superintendent Tom Harding of West Mercia Police moved to reassure parents that there was no evidence that Jones targeted any individuals, or of any offending in schools or leisure centres.
"We know that understandably this will cause a great deal of alarm and distress within the local community," Supt Harding said.
"I can offer the following reassurance to parents and carers.
"We know Jones' offending took place in the Telford and Wrekin area, in open and public shopping areas.
"There is no evidence of offending in schools and leisure centres.
"There is no evidence of Jones having any physical contact with any children or targeting any individual child on multiple occasions.
"We have not identified any individual safeguarding issues with any child and therefore given the number of children who cannot be identified from the videos, we are not able to inform individual families.
"I can reassure families that we have found no evidence from our experts in the high tech crime unit, of the films being shared.
"All the hard drives and storage devices which hold these videos will be destroyed after the sentencing."
Anyone with concerns is asked to call West Mercia Police on 101, or Family Connect Telford on 01952 385385 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.
