Paedophile spared jail – so he can be treated for offences

Feb 27 2008 by Liz Keen, South Wales Echo

A SEX offender who touched a second child 17 years after committing an offence against another girl is being kept out of prison so he can be treated.

Judge Christopher Llewellyn-Jones QC gave John Wiltshire, 54, a community order with three years supervision and compulsory attendance on a sex offenders’ programme. He said he was doing it to protect children in the future.

In order to receive treatment in jail, Wiltshire, of Caeglas Road, Cardiff, would have to have a sentence of at least three years.

But because of his health – he has suffered a heart attack and sometimes needs a wheelchair – and the circumstances of his case, Wiltshire’s term would have been shorter. That means a sex offenders’ prevention programme would not be available to him on the inside.

Judge Llewellyn-Jones told him: “The appropriate way to treat you for this abhorrent behaviour is to impose a sex offenders’ programme in the community.”

Wiltshire, who had pleaded guilty to being involved in sexual activity with a girl under 13, was also banned from being alone with any child or young person.

He has three days from the hearing to register his details with local police and will remain on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Wiltshire’s previous offence was against a girl in 1990.