A gavel is seen in a hearing room in Panama City April 7, 2016. court judge hammer
A gavel is seen in a hearing room in Panama City April 7, 2016. Reuters/Carlos Jasso

A paedophile who wanted to travel to countries with lower ages of consent was handed a travel restriction. Jason Leonard, who once said paedophilia would be accepted in the same way homosexuality is today, is banned from leaving the UK without the consent of the chief constable.

Last week, Leonard has appealed against that decision. He said he wanted to travel to other countries with lower age restrictions to avoid persecution for being a paedophile.

His appeal was rejected. Judge Sara Dodd said Leonard was “deeply disturbed” and with a “frankly alarming attitude to paedophilia.”

He was jailed in 2013 for downloading pictures of children and then sharing them online. According to police, he has not acted on his desires to be with minor children yet, and that’s only because his elderly mother is holding him back.

According to Metro, a detective revealed that Leonard had said his ideal partner would be aged between 12 and 14. He said during an interview that “if a child is old enough to talk, it’s old enough to have sex.” He also lamented that paedophiles were being treated the same horrible way that the gays were “40 years ago and Jews in the second world war.”

“In the 10 years performing this role, I have never met a sexual offender who quite openly acknowledges his paedophilic tendencies,” DC Andrew Ashworth said. “Mr Leonard has expressed his desire to leave the country because he believes the police, judiciary and government in this country are persecuting paedophiles. He is very vocal and adamant about this persecution.

“He believes that in the fullness of time, paedophilia will be accepted in the same way that homosexuality is today.”

Leonard has said he would travel abroad to countries with lower age of consent when his mother, who is in her 80s, dies.

“For me, the only pro-social influence in his life at the moment is his mother, and that’s purely because she is alive,” Ashworth continued.