A PAEDOPHILE who claims to be a five-year-old girl escaped jail after kissing two toddlers.

 Thumb-sucking Janiel Verainer of High Street, Chatham, had appeared in court dressed as an elf before Christmas. Verainer, 61, left a dummy on a counter during a routine check at Maidstone Crown Court during a sentencing hearing last week.

 As he sat in the dock wearing pigtails, an Alice band, a frock, long stockings, and a cape, Verainer cried when he heard the charge of violating a judicial order, which carried a maximum two-year penalty.

Verainer was accused of kissing two small children on the lips after playing the piano at a gathering in 2019.

It violated a Sexual Harm Prevention Order issued in 2016 by Canterbury Crown Court, which required Verainer to remain away from children.

At the 2016 hearing, Verainer requested the name Jorven Seren and claimed to be a five-year-old girl.

 He was, however, sentenced to 15 months in prison for kissing a girl outside a cafe in Thanet.

 Indecent photographs were also discovered on his phone while he was staying in Grotto Hill, Margate.

 The judge chastised the defendant for cradling a giant doll throughout the 2016 hearing.

Psychiatrists testified in court that Verainer had personality flaws but no mental health disorders.

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