A convicted paedophile who dressed up as an elf in a Santa's grotto while volunteering at a charity event has been jailed. Former police officer John Smith, 48, was previously banned from having any contact with children after twice being caught engaging in sexualised online chats with children and decoy accounts.
But he brazenly flouted this court order within months by acting as a "meeter and greeter" at a charity event on Christmas Day that was "attended by a large number of children". The role even saw him deliver a hamper to one family home, with organisers completely unaware of his conviction.
Background of the Case
Smith was subject to a three-year community order and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) after being convicted of attempted sexual communication with a child in February 2024, having been caught in an online sting by an undercover police officer. This prevented Smith, of Laurel Road, Fairfield, from having any unsupervised contact with children without the approval of both their parents and social services, the Liverpool Echo reports.
At Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, Smith was jailed for 20 months after previously pleading guilty to two counts of breaching a SHPO. He was told to sign the sex offenders' register for the next 10 years, while his SHPO remains in place until 2034.
Details of the Breach
Laura Atherton, prosecuting, detailed how Smith was visited by his offender managers as part of his SHPO on Valentine's Day last year. While examining his phone, the officers discovered a photograph of the defendant dressed as an elf and posing beside Father Christmas in a grotto at a Christmas party.
Smith then admitted the picture had been taken when he volunteered at an event on December 25, 2024, during which a number of children had been present. When police subsequently contacted the charity organisers, they described the celebration as being "family orientated", having included a Christmas dinner, presents and a grotto.
The event was "aimed at individuals who were vulnerable or lonely", with many attendees referred by organisations such as Crisis. The court also heard that "dressing up at the event was not mandatory", with Ms Atherton adding: "The defendant chose to dress up as an elf of his own volition. It could be seen as him trying to make himself more approachable to children."
Previous Convictions
The court heard it was the third year in a row Smith had volunteered at the event, having not disclosed his previous convictions or SHPO to the organisers. His duties on the day included "greeting families" and even delivering a festive hamper to one home where children were present.
Smith has a total of eight previous convictions for 17 offences, including an earlier community order for six counts of inciting sexual activity with a child in 2011. However, he was later jailed for 12 months in 2013 after similarly breaching that order.
Defence and Sentencing
Paul Becker, defending, told the court: "He is a well-spoken, articulate, intelligent man. It is all the more perplexing as to how he came to commit such a deliberate breach of this order. It may be of some relevance to explain to the court that the Horizon programme [a Probation Service programme for sex offenders] was commenced a month after he committed these offences."
"There is undoubtedly an addiction that Mr Smith has. This is not his first offence. He has been before the courts a number of times for online offences. He has never committed a contact offence." He added: "The defendant, I understand, has had a significant drink problem in the past. He has been sober for 11 years. He tells me that he has been sectioned three or four times. That, together with PTSD, has taken its toll on the defendant. Because the defendant is doing well at the moment and is impressing probation, and despite this relapse, I would ask your honour to give him a further opportunity."
Sentencing, Judge Katherine Pierpoint said: "On that occasion, the court gave you an opportunity by imposing a three-year community order. It was made clear to you when that order was passed that you must have no contact whatsoever in an unsupervised way with children, unless social services gave permission and their carer knew about your convictions."
"Eight months after that order was imposed, in a period of time when you, on the face of it, were working with the Probation Service, you volunteered at a family event. That only came to light because your offender managers looked at your phone in February of last year. On that phone, they found a picture of you dressed as an elf, posing with Father Christmas in what looked like a grotto. You had volunteered at this event that was run by a charity, an event held on Christmas Day, to help and support families. It was a family-orientated event when you knew full well there would be a number of children there."
"You were working that day in that capacity as a meeter and greeter. You had chosen to dress up. It was not a requirement. Certainly, on the face of it, somebody dressed as an elf would be more approachable to children. You also ended up delivering a hamper to a family where there were children. You knew full well that, by doing what you did on Christmas Day, you were in breach of this order, which had only been imposed some months prior. In my judgment, this is a very serious breach."
Judge Pierpoint said the event organiser had been left feeling "hurt and angry" by Smith's failure to disclose his convictions, and the situation it had put her and the charity in. She added: "This was a deliberate breach. It was at a Christmas event which you knew would be attended by a large number of children. You chose to actually then visit one of those families where there were children present. The organiser was not aware of your conviction, meaning multiple children were put at potential risk. If you had told her about this, you would have been nowhere near this event."
"There was, in my judgement, a risk of very serious harm or distress being caused when one considers all of the circumstances, not least the access that you could have had to unsupervised children and your previous convictions."
