St Helens man jailed for sex offences and affray
Main article content
A St Helens man has been jailed after being convicted for sharing sexual images online and affray.
Carl Lee, of Liverpool Road, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court today, Wednesday 18 December, and pleaded guilty to Disclosure private sexual images and affray.
The court heard that last year Lee had secretly filmed himself having sex with another person which they did not consent to. He then shared the footage with another person online.
In July this year officers received a report that Lee had shared video footage on social media of him holding knives and was making threats to kill.
Officers attended Lee’s address and up on forcing entry saw that he was holding a knife and began stabbing the door and threatened to stab officers or anyone that entered the room.
The 44-year-old continued to make threats to kill members of the public from his bedroom window while holding two large kitchen knives.
Police officers detained Lee after a several-hour standoff. He was then arrested and charged with making threats to kill and affray.
Today, Lee, was sentenced to three years in prison and issued with two restraining orders.
Detective Inspector Steven O’Neill said: “Lee's violent behaviour displayed online and towards both members of the public and police caused significant distress and they feared for their safety.
"Our officers put their own lives and personal safety on the line every day in order to keep us all safe but they should never have to tolerate or accept physical violence when carrying out their duties.
“Lee also shared sexual images online without the other person’s knowing that they had been filmed, and this caused them great distress when they were informed by someone he had shared it with.
“We hope that he will now reflect on the consequences of his utterly depraved and violent actions while serving his jail time.”
Merseyside Police is committed to protecting victims of sexual offences, and anyone who reports an incident to us will be safeguarded and supported throughout the investigation by Specially Trained Officers and Sexual Violence Advocates who will provide all the relevant support.
Detective Inspector O’Neill added: “Anyone that has been a victim of a sexual offence, is concerned for the safety of someone they know or suspects someone to be engaging in this criminal activity, should come forward and speak to us.
“We have a team of dedicated staff who will expertly and compassionately deal with your reports and we will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice.
“We take all such reports extremely seriously, and work with partner organisations such as Victim care Support Service and RASA who are there to support victims if this crime.”
Anyone who wants to report a sexual offence is asked to call 101 where you will be spoken to by a specially trained officer.
If you have been a victim of sexual offence you can access specialist support services, which are free of charge and available to anyone. You do not need a referral or to have reported an incident to Merseyside Police before you access these specialist support services. This help is also available to family and friends who are supporting the survivor.
These services can support you in a variety of ways, including offering a confidential discussion if you are thinking of making a police report, but are unsure what that involves and would like to discuss it.
If you do decide to report to Merseyside Police, you will receive support throughout the investigation and court processes.
You can choose to make an anonymous report through the Sexual Assault Referral Centre called Safe Place, or the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor service, rather than coming directly to Merseyside Police. Please search for RASA or RASASC (if residing in the St Helens and Knowsley area).
Support is available in Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, from Rape and Sexual Abuse Support (RASA) Merseyside who are available on 0151 558 1801 and, in St Helens and Knowsley, by the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (RASASC) Cheshire and Merseyside who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063.
If you do not require immediate police assistance then you can report rape and sexual assault via our website here:
Support is also available through the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Victim Care Merseyside service: Home: Victim Care Merseyside
Alternatively, you can report a sexual offence by calling 101 or you can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency, always call 999.
We have recently launched our plan to tackle the issue of violence against women and girls and help women and girls to feel safe and be safe across Merseyside. The link can be found here: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/police-forces/merseyside-police/areas/campaigns/campaigns/2022/our-commitment-to-keeping-women-and-girls-safe-in-merseyside/our-approach/
For women who have felt or feel unsafe in public spaces the Home Office has set up a pilot service (StreetSafe | Police.uk (www.police.uk) for anyone to anonymously report public places where they have felt or feel unsafe, because of environmental issues, e.g. street lighting, abandoned buildings or vandalism and/or because of some behaviours, e.g. being followed or verbally abused. Please note: 'StreetSafe' is not for reporting crime or incidents.