An Essex man has been jailed after he exposed himself and tried to incite two 12-year-old girls to engage in sexual activity.

Brendan Joyce 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 on October 29, 2020.

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

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

Joyce, of The Briars, Harlow, denied charges of exposure and two counts of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on June 25 last year.

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

Joyce was jailed for a total of nine years on Wednesday (June 1).

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.