THANKS to you, a man from Harlow has been jailed after he exposed himself and tried to incite two 12-year-old girls to engage in sexual activity

Brendan Joyce of The Briars, Harlow, was identified by two independent members of the public after Essex Police issued an appeal to help identify a man who had approached the pair in a Harlow park on 29 October 2020.

Officers from the Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) arrested 62-year-old Joyce within hours of the appeal being issued on 23 December 2020.

Despite denying all knowledge of the incident and claiming to have been elsewhere, Joyce was positively identified and charged.

Brendan Joyce entered a not guilty plea at Colchester Magistrates’ Court when he appeared on 25 June last year to answer charges of exposure and two counts of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

The jury at his Chelmsford Crown Court trial (19 and 20 April) took just two-and-a-half hours to unanimously find him guilty of all offences.

On Wednesday 1 June Brendan Joyce, 62, of The Briars, Harlow, was jailed for a total of nine years.

PC Gurinder Mahal, CAIT, leading the investigation, said: “This has been a shocking incident where two young girls were approached in a play park by this predatory man.

“They have been courageous throughout this investigation that lasted much longer than necessary because Brendan Joyce denied any wrong-doing.

“They were scared to go out for months and didn’t see their friends because they felt unsafe.

“But today, they and their families can be proud, because they stood up to be counted when it mattered and have seen this through to Brendan Joyce being jailed.

“Because of their actions no others will suffer at Joyce’s hands.”

Brendan Joyce will be released on extended licence for seven years and be subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.