Nintendo DSi sends child abuser to the slammer
Photo evidence yields confession
A paedophile has been jailed after his victim used her Nintendo DSi to covertly photograph his assault.
John Fisher, 46, confessed to his crime after being arrested by police and shown the images taken by the girl, who is too young to name. She used her handheld games console to snap a picture of the paedophile's hand groping her, the Telegraph reports.
Fisher, from Lowestoft, Suffolk and appearing before Ipswich Crown Court, admitted to two offences of assault by penetration in January 2010 and November 2011.
"[The victim's] quick thinking in using her games console to take a photograph of [Fisher] touching her provided indisputable proof of what had happened, and she was brave enough to come forward and report the incident and give us a full and accurate account of what had gone on," said a police representative.
Defence lawyers insisted that while the offences were serious, no physical harm was caused to the child. They characterised Fisher as "borderline learning disabled".
Fisher was given a three-and-a-half year custodial sentence and has been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely. ®
COMMENTS
Parenting fail
If you RTFA, you'll notice that this is the second time it happened. The first time it happened, she told her mum (as you should), and her family did nothing about it.
It's not unknown for kids to fall apart if their family won't back them up on something like htis. So good on the girl for having the smarts and mental resilience to get the photo and then say "OK mum, laugh this one off you bitch".
well done..
..little girl. excellent presence of mind. I can't imagine just how many episodes like this go unrecorded simply because the level of assault may be deemed not serious enough to investigate without good proof. I know of a few occasions of when I was young and a certain teacher at my school seemed to have a reputation for suchness. It is doubtless (in my mind) that today this kind of person would be caught out pretty rapidly.
what wherewithal from that girl. well done!
Not finished yet?
Now will they go and arrest the girl for having taken child pornography pictures? Or how about and ASBO?
Re: Parenting fail
quote: "Surprised he was allowed Defence Lawyers, that makes me sick"
I understand the revulsion you are feeling for this obviously disturbed individual, however we still pay token lip-service to "innocent until proven guilty" here in the UK. I assume you did not intend to suggest that an innocent man should be denied representation in a court of law? Using those criteria, a few photoshopped images of anyone would be enough to get them convicted, since they would not be able to employ any experts to represent them, and refute the photographs as being tampered with :)
Also from the Times article: "Fisher who is married with a daughter and grandchildren at first denied assaulting the girl. But he admitted it when police confronted with the photograph. Detectives were able to prove the image was of him as it showed features of his hand and items of his clothing even though it did not reveal his face. " (emphasis mine)
So I would argue that the picture on its own should not really be considered enough, given that it was only a hand and some clothing. His confession is what really sealed the conviction in this case..
Irony
I seem to recall there was a bit of alarm raised about kids having this sort of device and how parents might not be aware that they had both internet connectivity and cameras. This combination was apparently regarded virtual welcome mat for sexual predators.
The irony would have been perfect, had she also used the DSi to report the assault via email or something, but oh well.
Thumbs up for that quick-thinking girl.
