Following the arrest and subsequent charging of Jonathan Le Tocq, Policy & Resources has said the Deputy will not be able to continue his work with the States senior committee.
P&R is now going to try to remove him from his role as Lead for External Affairs because the other members believe his continued membership would hinder their ability to fulfil their duties.
To do this, they need to ask the States of Guernsey to remove him from the role he was re-elected to in July.
He would continue to be a States member for now though, even when he is removed from P&R.
Deputy Le Tocq has been charged with multiple offences including the possession of indecent images of children and extreme pornography, and telecommunication offences.
The charges levied against the politician and church pastor include making at least 80 ‘Category A’, at least 150 ‘Category B’, and at least 1200 ‘Category C’ indecent images of children, between 14 June 2023 and 12 July 2025.
He’s also been charged with possessing “extremely pornographic images”, and sending messages and images of an indecent character on different X (Twitter) accounts.
He appeared in Guernsey’s Magistrate’s Court this afternoon where he was remanded into custody until his next court hearing on 15 September.
His case will be heard by the Royal Court because of the nature of the charges he faces. A committal hearing is likely to take place on 1 October.
Following Deputy Le Tocq’s court appearance in court, Guernsey’s P&R committee issued the following statement:
“Our thoughts are with anyone affected by today’s news that Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq has been charged with a number of offences and remanded in custody following a court appearance.
“In light of these events, it will clearly not be possible for Deputy Le Tocq to carry out any work on, or on behalf of, the Committee.
“Our focus is purely on ensuring P&R has the political capacity of five members to deliver its extensive responsibilities. Accordingly, the Committee intends to bring a proposition to the States under Rule 37(8) as it considers that its ability to fulfil its mandate would be unreasonably hindered by Deputy Le Tocq’s continued Membership.
“Rule 37(8) of the States’ Rules of Procedure states that if ‘the voting members of a Committee believe that the continued membership of that Committee by one member is unreasonably hindering the ability of the Committee to fulfil its mandate’ then it may bring a proposition to the States seeking their removal from the Committee.”
More to follow…