Brighton man jailed for child sex offences

A Brighton man who took indecent images of two young girls has been jailed for eight years.

Neil Schooley, 55, of Woburn Place, asked a young girl to remove her clothes and pose for a photograph and, two days later, exposed himself to her.

Both offences took place between 2017 and 2018 when the victim was under 10 years old.

An investigation was launched after the offences were reported and a second girl came forward to report Schooley had given her wine, asked her to take off her clothes and taken a picture of her.

The offences took place between June, 2016 and June, 2018, when she was between 10 and 13 years old.

Schooley was arrested and subsequently charged with three counts of taking indecent images of a child and two counts of causing or inciting sexual activity with a child.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges, but was found guilty of each offence after a trial at Hove Crown Court in July.

At the same court on Friday, 31 August, Schooley was sentenced to eight years in prison.

He has been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order significantly reducing his access to children and vulnerable people.

Detective Constable Joe Murray, of the Safeguarding Investigations Unit, said: “Neil Schooley betrayed the trust of his young victims and their families for his own sexual gratification.

“The seriousness of these offences and the harm they have caused was recognised by this sentence, which was the maximum available for these crimes.

“I would like to thank both of these two brave girls for reporting the incidents, supporting our investigation and helping to bring Schooley to justice.

"Please report to Sussex Police online, via 101 or, in an emergency, by dialling 999."