A disgraced classical music conductor who tried to arrange sex acts with a child has walked free from court.
Jan Latham-Koenig was caught in a police sting and arrested at London's Victoria Station where he had arranged to meet an underage boy named 'Jacob' on a dating app. The boy however had been a decoy set up by an undercover officer, Southwark Crown Court.
Latham-Koenig, who is 70 but initially told 'Jacob' he was 49, had been entirely aware he was talking to a supposed 14-year-old, the court heard. The two then switched to chatting on WhatsApp, with Latham-Koenig sending an explicit picture and discussing intimate acts.
The court also heard the defendant encouraged 'Jacob' to delete their conversations to cover his tracks, telling him not to tell his mum about their chats. Latham-Koenig - a renowned conductor who has previously partook in BBC ensembles and awarded OBE in 2020 - was arrested at the station in January and charged with sexual communication with a minor.
He pled guilty to the charge, as well as arranging or facilitating the commission of a sexual offence with a child and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. But after admitting the charge in court, the 70-year-old was handed a suspended sentence after it was heard his offending had destroyed his "long and distinguished cultural career".
William McGivern, prosecuting, told the court that Latham-Koenig had told Jacob about his glittering career.
"He said that he was a conductor in classical music and that he was dying to meet someone like Jacob," said Mr McGivern.
He then asked Jacob how old he was. "When Jacob told him he was 14, rather than cease all communication he said that he was 49 and lived in London," said Mr McGivern.
Judge Alexander Milne said: "What is clear is that in the later part of last year you entered into conversation on a dating app accepted to be frequently used by homosexual men and struck up exchanges with a person you believed to be called Jacob. At some stage you were made aware that Jacob was 14 years old. Jacob did not exist and was in fact an undercover police officer."
The judge added: "At one stage the defendant sent to Jacob a photo of a naked penis. Fondling between them was discussed. There were discussions of going further than merely talking."
Eleanor Laws KC, defending, told the court: "The defendant had expressed concerns about Jacob's age before he met him." The barrister added his life and career had been ruined by his offending. "Not only has his career been destroyed, but his life is going to be very different from here on in, whatever happens today," Ms Laws said.
The judge accepted there was "clear remorse" from Latham-Koenig, sentencing him to 14 months, suspended for two years. "He is a gentleman now 70 years of age with a long and distinguished cultural career behind him," the judge said. He will have to undertake 40 hours of a rehabilitation activity requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work, plus £1,000 costs.
Latham-Koenig, of Kensington, was also made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and he will be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.