Probation for man who made false and offensive video
A man was given two years of probation after he admitted falsely claiming on social media to have impregnated international celebrities and local public officers.
Jared Gordon, 35, was sentenced for his misuse of telecommunication services on Friday after years of bouncing between court programmes and changing his plea.
Magistrate Craig Attridge warned him that he will go to prison for a year if he failed to follow his order.
He added: “You need to avail yourself of the services that are being provided to you.
“You’ve been running from this for two years. You need to stop.”
The court heard that police in October 2022 were alerted to a post on an Instagram account linked to Gordon.
In the video, which had been posted on September 11 that year, Gordon claimed to have fathered children with several public figures, including Cindy Clarke, the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Ms Clarke later released a statement clarifying that she did not have any children and had no interactions with Gordon outside of prosecuting him for past offences.
Police attended Gordon’s Sandys home and arrested him on suspicion of the misuse of telecommunications.
They noted during the arrest that the home appeared to match the background of the video.
The court heard that Gordon kept telling police that he had permission from the Bermuda Police Service to posts these videos.
Gordon admitted the offence in April 2023 and was sent to the Mental Health Treatment Court programme.
However, court staff later found that he was unsuitable for the mental health and Drug Treatment Court programmes, and instead requested he be resentenced.
Gordon changed his plea to not guilty in October that year on the day he was supposed to be sentenced, but ended up changing his plea again.
The court heard on Friday that he was once again sent to the treatment court programmes, but refused treatment once more and was sent back to the courts.
Mr Attridge recognised how much Gordon would benefit from these treatment programmes, adding that he was “exactly the kind of person whom this court was made for”.
He ordered that Gordon be assessed for any court treatment programmes and for him to participate in any deemed necessary.
Mr Attridge also ordered him not to commit any offences, and to stay away from illicit drugs and alcohol during his probation.
Gordon spent time in prison for threatening David Burt through a series of e-mails written in 2017 and 2018, and allegedly threatened the Premier again via social media in 2020.
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