The Top Five – the stories that you’ve been reading this week

This week’s news has been all about one story – the sentencing of depraved ex-Deputy and church leader Jonathan Le Tocq on indecent images and telecoms charges.

Many islanders didn’t know the extent of his hideous crimes until this week, so Express was here to guide you through what happened and the aftermath.

1. Locked up

Le Tocq was jailed for nine years on Monday for a string of horrific crimes, with the court hearing his victims felt “voilated” and “psychologically raped”.

Rejecting calls from his lawyers for leniancy, Judge Catherine Fooks said it was “impossible to find words adequate to reflect the deep depravity” of Le Tocq’s crimes.

2. Depraved list of crimes

The true extent of Le Tocq’s “depraved” and “abhorrent” crimes has shocked the public.

He used AI to put the faces of local schoolchildren – that he knew personally – onto adult pornography. In some cases, he even superimposed his own face on to the men in the photos.

3. Letter from Le Tocq

After his sentencing, Le Tocq shared a bizarre, hand-written letter through his lawyers that emphasized how hard being caught had been on him.

The convicted pedophile blamed a 2020 heart attack for his “sin” – despite his list of crimes going back as far as 2016 – and then had the audacity to ask the public for “space and grace” to rebuild his “broken world”.

4. Shock at Le Tocq’s church

Members of the church Le Tocq was a pastor at have said they are “profoundly shocked” by his crimes.

A spokesperson for the Rock Community Church, on The Bridge, said his offences represented “a devastating betrayal of trust”.

5. Jersey politician gave character reference

A Jersey politician who gave a written character reference to Le Tocq’s trial says he didn’t know how bad the ex-Deputy’s crimes were.

Ian Gorst is Jersey’s External Relations Minister – a role Le Tocq held for Guernsey – but says he “wasn’t fully aware of the scale or extent” of the crimes when he made his statement.

6. Victims offered support

Among the understandable anger at Le Tocq’s horrific crimes, a victim support charity has highlighted the support available to victims of his crimes – as well as victims of similar offences.

Guernsey’s Victim Support and Witness Service said image-based abuse could have a “lasting and deeply distressing impact on victims”, but “independent and confidential help” was available.

On a lighter note…

In a week of revelations about the depths of human behaviour, it’s important to remember there are good people out there doing lovely things.

Local photographers were out over the weekend taking amazing photos of Storm Ingrid.

Meanwhile, local artist Michelle Schofield has created some gorgeous Guernsey-based artwork inspired by the London Tube Map.