A former Labour councillor who sent a nude video of himself to a police officer, who he believed to be a 13-year-old schoolgirl, has been spared a jail term.
Liron Velleman, 31, sent messages on an online chatroom and Snapchat to the “girl”, discussing sex acts and urging her to send pictures of herself wearing a dressing gown, pyjamas, and a bra and crop top.
Velleman used the alias “Tim Graham 95” to send the messages, which culminated in him stripping down to his underwear for a picture and then sending a video of his penis.
However, the recipient was actually an undercover Metropolitan Police officer posing as a teenager.
Velleman, who was previously a member of the Jewish Labour Movement and part of anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, resigned as a Labour councillor for the ward of Whetstone in Barnet, north London, after his arrest for child sexual offences.
At Southwark Crown Court on Friday, he was handed an eight-month prison sentence, which Judge James Lofthouse agreed to suspend for the next 15 months.
“You know you have no one to blame for the disintegration of your personal and professional life but yourself,” said the judge.
“This is where your reckless, vile and frankly devious interest in children has led you. This could have been a real child.”
The court heard Velleman’s wife has left him, and he is only allowed limited supervised contact with his young son.
The judge urged Velleman to consider how he would feel if his own child fell victim to an online predatory paedophile, and added that, while he engaged with treatment services immediately after his arrest, Velleman is “still in denial to a degree”.
“You maintain you have no sexual interest in children, but that does not accord with the persistent exchanges with someone you believed was 13-years-old.”
Labour stayed silent on the reason for Velleman’s resignation of his Barnet Council seat in early 2025, and the party went on to win the by-election to find his replacement.
Velleman pleaded guilty in February this year after being charged with attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child aged 13 to 15 to look at an image of sexual activity.
Prosecutor Edmund Blackman said the undercover officer, using the name Kaylee, was approached by Velleman on the messaging service Chatib at the start of December 2024.
“He was told from the off that she was 13, and he maintained an interest in her”, he said.
“The chat moved to Snapchat – she was talking about her interests in horse riding and shopping, and it became sexual quite quickly.”
He said the undercover officer sent a picture of a girl in her bedroom to Velleman, and in his response, he asked about her “cute” knickers.
Velleman sent back a picture of his naked torso, the court heard, and then asked for a picture of the girl in her bra.
The messages continued over the course of several days, and when Velleman was staying in a hotel, he was sent a picture of the girl wearing a school uniform, to which he replied that she “looked cute” and asked about regulation skirt lengths.
Velleman talked about masturbating before sending a picture of himself in just his boxer shorts with the comment: “They might be coming off soon”.
In the messages that followed, Velleman solicited a picture of the girl in her dressing gown, sent back an image of himself in the hotel bed, and then asked her to open her dressing gown to show her pyjamas.
“He asked if she wanted to see him take off his boxer shorts, and he sent a short video of an adult male erect penis, presumably himself,” said Mr Blackman.
Scott Brady KC, for Velleman, said his life is “in tatters” in the wake of his arrest and charge, ending his political career and his marriage.
“His life has fallen in upon him,” he said.
He said Velleman went to the Stop It Now service, which helps to prevent child sexual abuse, the day after he was arrested.
“Here we have a man who has, of course, caused himself this catastrophic situation, but he has immediately started to address the matter,” he said.
Velleman, of North Finchley, was supported in court by his parents, as the judge ordered him to carry out 180 hours of community service and 20 rehabilitation days as part of his suspended prison sentence.
He will be on the Sex Offenders Register and under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the next 10 years, and must also pay £150 in costs and a £187 victim surcharge.
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