Augher sex offender fails in bid to keep his identity a secret

Press have won a court challenge against a lifetime ban on naming a County Tyrone man who was caught by undercover police while disclosing a sexual interest in children and seeking to rape 10-year-old girl.

Steven John Dowson, 49, from Riverview, Augher, attempted to arrange to meet a girl for a sexual abuse and also admitted possessing indecent child imagery.

The offences occurred between November 21 and December 6, 2022.

Reporting restrictions were imposed when Dowson first appeared in court after he claimed he would self-harm if identified publicly.

This was challenged throughout by media, but the ban was permitted to remain until now.

Prosecuting counsel Michael McAleer told Dungannon Crown Court that Dowson used a social media platform to engage with what he thought was the father of a female child.

This was, in fact, a police decoy to whom Dowson disclosed his sexual interest in children, particularly preteens.

He sent two images of a female to the decoy and claimed to have sexually abused a child relative from she was aged 4 to 11 and that he ‘missed it’.

The decoy claimed to have a 10-year-old daughter and Dowson asked to meet her, graphically describing what he wanted to do and enquiring “Can I f*** her?”

He sent a picture of his genitals and requested an image of the child.

This was refused but Dowson continued to state his desires before asking for images of the decoy’s  ‘youngest daughter’.

Dowson arranged to travel to England to meet the decoy, advising he would bring a teddy bear for the child.

The PSNI were able to trace his address and arrested him on December 6, 2023.

Two phones were seized containing sexualised internet searches which are too graphic to report, a large number of pornographic websites and a collection of child sexual images.

Referring to pre-sentence reports, Judge Brian Sherrard told Dowson: “You claim to have no sexual interest in children, which is clearly wrong.

“You are remorseful but notably your focus is on your own wellbeing. A psychiatric report states you possess only limited understanding of victim empathy.

“You assert your actions were a fantasy but your intention was fixed and grotesque in the extreme. Your aberrant interest in children is demonstrated by the abusive images, the searches on your phones and the websites visited.”

He continued: “Your intention was for in sex with a child along with other acts of degradation. While the child was fictitious, to your understanding she would have been vulnerable by having an abusive father. There was intention to groom the child by bringing her a teddy bear and multiple acts were envisaged.”

Judge Sherrard sentenced Dowson to two years imprisonment and ordered him to remain on the Sex Offender Register for 10 years.

Defence counsel turned to the reporting restriction and applied for this to be made permanent, equating to lifetime anonymity.

The media challenged this pointing to disproportionality as such orders – of which only nine exist across the entire United Kingdom – are strictly reserved for very specific cases including persons under confirmed threat from a third party and others who have been granted a new identity on release from prison.

Ruling in favour of the media, Judge Sherrard decided any clinical risk for Dowson can be managed in custody.

“There is a strong imperative for criminal justice to operate in public and no other facts have been brought to my attention that will dissuade me to make the order that is sought.”

While the matter was permitted to stand for a time to establish if the defence intended to appeal, the defence have since confirmed there would be no further action.