Man jailed for child sex offences committed in hotels

A Liverpool man who was found to have committed child sex offences after hotel staff raised the alarm has been jailed today, Thursday 3 July.

Joel Dever, aged 25, was sentenced to five years, three months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court.

He was also issued with a lifelong restraining order and is required to sign the Sex Offender Register for life. 

Dever, of Good Shepherd Close in Croxteth, pleaded guilty to a number of child sexual offences, including six counts of sexual activity with a child, arranging or facilitating a child sex offence, and five counts of making indecent images of a child which were category A,B or C videos.

Today's sentencing relates to child sex offences Dever committed in 2023 when he was 22.

Dever met a 14-year-old girl on a social media site and engaged in a sexual relationship with her for more than a year, regularly booking hotels for them both in Liverpool and Southport.

Detective Constable Soph Lowe from Sefton Protecting Vulnerable People Unit, said: "We work closely with hotels and bars to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation. Hotel staff in particular have been trained to identify the signs of when a child is being sexual exploited and how to report issues to police.

“In this instance, Dever’s predatory and vile behaviour was found out when hotel staff at one establishment raised concerns about the girl's age and called police.

“The victim and her family have shown immense courage and bravery throughout the investigation to reach this conviction.

“Today’s custodial sentence has removed him from the streets to prevent further harm to anyone else. I hope Dever spends his time in prison reflecting on his wholly unacceptable behaviour."

Det Con Lowe added: “I hope his imprisonment encourages other victims to come forward and report sex offences to us, and demonstrates that they can have confidence in us to take reports seriously. We will ensure offenders are put before the courts so that they can pay for their crimes.

"“Anyone who has been a victim of a sexual offence, or 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.

“Time is no barrier to reporting offences and I would urge anyone who has been victim of a sexual offence at any time to come forward and we will do everything we can to help and support them.”

If you are a child or young person suffering sexual or physical abuse, the following organisations can also provide help and support:
NSPCC – call 0808 800 5000 or e-mail [email protected].
Childline – call 0800 1111
If you’ve been affected by sexual violence of any kind don’t be afraid to tell someone, find the courage to come forward and get the help you deserve.

You can report rape, sexual assault and other sexual offences anonymously here: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/rsa/alpha-v1/advice/rape-sexual-assault-and-other-sexual-offences/how-to-report-rape-sexual-assault-other-sexual-offences/

There is a lot of support available from specialist officers within Merseyside Police and through the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Victim Care Merseyside service delivered jointly by two registered charities.

In Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral, support is provided by 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.