Latest Offenders

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A man has been jailed after sexually assaulting a girl and taking and sharing indecent images of her. Ryan Woolsey, 25 years, of Withensfield, Liscard was put behind bars for 13 years and eight months.

Woolsey was convicted of two counts of assaulting a girl under 13 by touching, two counts of making indecent photographs of a child, possessing an indecent photograph of a child, distributing an indecent photograph of a child and taking an indecent photograph of a child.

During the course of the investigation into Woolsey’s offending, officers seized Woolsey’s devices and found he had taken and shared indecent images of the victim as well as assaulting her.

Detective Inspector Rob Pritchard said: “I know that people hearing the details of Woolsey’s crimes will feel complete revulsion at the way he exploited a young child. His crimes are quite simply despicable. Woolsey had no regard for the impact his behaviour would have on the victim, and thought only of his own sordid gratification.“Sex offending has a huge and devastating impact on victims and their families, and that harm can last a lifetime. I want to pay tribute to the victim in this case and her family, whose courage in coming forward and co-operating with the investigation has been humbling.“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the team who investigated Woolsey, whose actions have helped put him behind bars and spare this child and others from further harm and exploitation. I hope Woolsey spends the long time he has in prison considering the terrible impact of his actions.”Det Insp Pritchard added: “Merseyside Police is completely committed to protecting children from sexual abuse and stopping those who seek to do them harm – including those who share images of that abuse. Our Unity team is dedicated to preventing sexual offences and protecting people from the trauma and hurt sexual abuse can inflict.

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A paedophile who sexually abused a teenage girl and had more than 15,000 indecent images of children and animals on his laptop has been jailed for more than a decade.

Police raided the home of registered sex offender Russell Duncan Frederick Weatherley in 2022, after receiving information he possessed indecent images of children.

Officers recovered a laptop with more than 15,000 indecent images and arrested the 62-year-old, of Bearpark, County Durham.

Detectives also found a folder on the device named after the victim, who Weatherley had preyed on decades earlier.

Weatherley had forced the girl to carry out sexual acts, often photographing or filming them.

The 62-year-old was charged with more than 30 offences and in court, pleaded not guilty to six counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl and five counts of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

He went to trial and was found guilty of all the offences as well as changing his plea to guilty for a further 18 counts of making indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography with an animal.

He was sentenced to ten years and six months in prison at Teesside Crown Court on Friday (December 6).

Following the sentencing, DC Liam Padget, who led the investigation, said: “Weatherley is a monster in every sense of the word and that is how the victim described him so we hope this sentence allows her to finally start to heal from this ordeal.

“I would like to commend the victim and her family for their bravery and perseverance during the investigation.

“She has had to carry the burden of abuse for many years, and this sentence reflects society’s abhorrence of crimes such as this.

“Durham Constabulary will always investigate offences of this nature and place victims at the centre of everything we do. If you have been a victim of abuse, please reach out. We will believe you.”

Description

A sexual predator followed a vulnerable woman as she got a taxi home from a night out before assaulting her for over an hour in a dark alleyway.

The young woman had been out with friends in Fallowfield when her friends ordered her an Uber home using her phone. But a car began to follow them.

CCTV showed Abbas Ahmed, 32, following closely behind the taxi before the woman stopped the journey home short. She then got out of the cab and began walking home, appearing to ‘walk into a parked car’ and seemed ‘clearly drunk’, prosecutor Geoff Whelan said.

“The defendant parked further up and noticed her walking down the road and quickly caught up with her,” he said.

“He grabbed hold of her hand and put his arm around her. She was unsteady on her feet.”

At one point the woman was seen to point towards her address, before Ahmed led her towards an alleyway. He then kissed her hand to encourage her, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Whilst walking over to the alleyway she was seen to push him away before he grabbed her hand. In the alleyway he sexually assaulted her.

The woman would later tell police that she had no memory of the taxi journey and only vague memories of being bent over and feeling something pulling her shorts and underwear down before pushing against her.

“The Crown’s case is that she was simply too intoxicated to consent,” Mr Whelan said.

The woman thought the assault took place over the course of five and ten minutes. However, CCTV revealed the ordeal lasted an hour before Ahmed left the woman alone in the alleyway.

She could be seen on the footage briefly illuminated by a passing car’s headlights as she was propped up against a wall with her dress pulled up to her waist.

As Ahmed left the scene, the young woman managed to find her way home where she met up with her friend. She had her underwear in her hand, it was said.

Whilst she got ready for bed, she mentioned to her friends about a ‘man in an alleyway’, but as they were unsure of what happened they thought to let her rest. A couple of days later she informed the police that she had been sexually assaulted.

In footage of the incident played to the court, the taxi is seen driving up the road to make sure the woman was OK. As he had seen she was ‘not in distress’ he drove away.

During the hour-long assault, the woman was seen to momentarily stumble out of the alleyway looking disorientated and dazed.

Ahmed’s DNA was later found on her genitals, the court heard.

In a statement, the woman said she struggles with fear, anxiety and sadness. She said she had struggled with friendships and whilst she had no physical injuries, she suffered a ‘mental toll’.

She added that she now doesn’t drink and feels unsafe around men. “I’m doing my best to move forward, but the effect still lingers," she added.

The court heard that Ahmed had a previous conviction for sexual assault, in which he had followed his victim in a car.

Mitigating, Gemma Maxwell said: “Parts of the journey, she was kissing him and holding his hand.

“The offences began upon losing his job. He was at a low ebb and was lonely and had time on his hands.”

Sentencing him as a ‘dangerous offender’ under sentencing provisions, Judge Patrick Field KC said: “The evidence shows that you are a sexual predator. You preyed upon a lone female unknown to you.

“She was alone and vulnerable. She was very drunk, so drunk that she was unable to consent to what you did and unable to remember what happened.

“You were fully aware of her condition. She tried to resist but was overpowered by force or persuasion.”

He described the offence as ‘thoroughly organised, planned and premeditated.

Ahmed, of Meade Grove, Longsight, was handed 50 months imprisonment with an extended licence period of 48 months.

He was also made subject of the Sex Offenders Register and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order.

Description

A man raped a woman in her own home after travelling to Wales to meet her. Sean Murphy then assaulted his victim a number of times including by banging her head against the wall.

Swansea Crown Court heard an impact statement from the victim of the sexual violence in which she said the experience had left her feeling "broken" inside. The 52-year-old defendant has been jailed for seven and a half years and will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. Police have praised the bravery of the victim and said without her coming forward "a very dangerous man would still be on the streets".

The court heard the rape happened in May last year in Swansea. Murphy sexually assaulted and raped the woman in the bedroom of the property then subjected her to a number of physical assaults in different rooms. The offending was subsequently reported to police and Murphy admitted the physical assaults but denied the sexual offending. He was convicted at trial in October this year.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Alycia Carpanini, the complainant said she was trying to be strong for the sake of her daughter but inside she was "broken". She said the pain and damage of what Murphy did would live with her for the rest of her life. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here.

Sean Murphy, of Stanbrook Road, Burford, Shropshire, had previously been convicted at trial of sexual assault and rape when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He had also previously pleaded guilty to three counts of battery. Megan Fletcher-Smith, for Murphy, said the defendant maintains his innocence and was "devastated" by the verdicts of the jury. She said seven personal references submitted to the court – including two from former partners of Murphy – speak of him "in the most glowing of terms" and said those who wrote the references are finding it very difficult to reconcile the man they know with the offences he has been convicted of. The barrister said her client's family had attended court during the trial but Murphy had not wanted them present for his sentencing such was his shame.

Judge Catherine Richards said it was clear that on the night in question Murphy had been "determined to have sexual intercourse" with his victim despite her protestations. She said following the sexual assault and rape the defendant had then subjected the woman to a series of assaults and that Murphy was fortunate that the decision had been taken to charge him with assaults by beating and not assaults occasioning actual bodily harm.

Murphy was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. He will serve two-thirds of that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Murphy will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.

Speaking after the sentencing South Wales Police detective inspector Sharon Gill-Lewis said: "Sean Murphy’s offending was despicable and he has rightly been sentenced to a lengthy jail term. I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of the victim in coming forward without whom a very dangerous man would still be on the streets."

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The "predatory and manipulative" actor is facing a lengthy jail term after being convicted of 26 sex offences against women and children on Tuesday (December 10). 

The 24-year-old, of Albrighton, Shropshire, was found guilty of all charges brought against him, including raping a teenager during acting classes, following a four week trial.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how he forced pupils in his drama class to recite Shakespeare naked and also engaged in nude role-play scenarios. 

The actor  - who starred in BBC's Doctors and was an uncredited student in Netflix's Sex Education - sexually assaulted one girl over a seven-year period and also filmed budding teen actress naked on his iPad. 

Jurors were told he had been a sexual predator from a child with his criminality stretching back to when he was aged just ten. 

Through out the course of his trial, pictures began to surface from his public Instagram - featuring some of his past works and trips to premiers. But some of them hit a strikingly different tone in light of his predatory actions. 

One photo shows him posing for selfies with beloved British actor Asa Butterfield, who played a lead role in Sex Education, while Westwood appeared only in the background. 

Others showed him dressed as iconic characters popular films and TV shows - including one of him dressed like David Tennant's tenth doctor from the BBC series Doctor Who - which may have inspired the actors choice of coat for his trial. 

Another, which set a stomach-churning tone following the conviction was a snap of him dressed like the children's fairy-tale character Peter Pan, who whisks kids off to Neverland to never grow up. Westwood played the leading role in Peter Pan The Musical at Birmingham's Blue Orange Theatre back in 2018. 

Prosecutor Andrew Wallace said: "When giving acting lessons, he again used this as an opportunity to touch his pupils inappropriately. These are schoolgirls we are talking about, teenagers. Imagine asking Dame Judi Dench to recite Hamlet naked - she would tell you where to go."

Westwood sexually assaulted and raped one pupil who described how he would hold her down by the wrists, forcing her to bite him to get away. He also called the police on one of his victims whilst harassing her.

When one of the girls complained to her parents about his behaviour Westwood told her mum she owed him £18,000 due to the contract he made her sign, including a clause which said she had to pay for missed lessons. His victims watched on in horror as he continued to work on television and frequently boasted about having stars as friends on social media.

After parents reported Westwood to the police, so did the college he was teaching at, and from his first police interview he lied and blamed the victims. Mr Wallace told the court: "Alexander Westwood is a supreme manipulator. "All these charges have a common theme, of inappropriate touching and predatory behaviour."

Instead of pleading guilty to the raft of sexual abuse and rape charges the actor lied to the bitter end, forcing his victims the horrific ordeal of facing him in court.

After cross-examination by Westwood's lawyer James Bloomer KC, several of the young women giving evidence against him left the court in floods of tears. Westwood looked on from the dock, showing no emotion. He will be sentenced on February 25 next year.

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A “DANGEROUS predator” recorded himself as he sexually assaulted a woman in her own bedroom.

Anurag Sharma, 21, from Abertillery, was found guilty of rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault of his victim by a jury following a trial.

After he attacked her, the defendant fled to France in the back of a lorry when he was on bail.

He was arrested at Dover when he tried to return to the UK undetected, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

In a moving victim impact statement, the woman said that Sharma was a “dangerous predator” and described her ordeal as “horrific”.

She told him: “You no longer have power over me and I'm not your victim. I have survived.”

The offences happened last summer.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said: “The victim was vulnerable and there was a degree of planning on the defendant’s part to achieve his offending.”

Dale Beeson representing Sharma asked the judge to show his client “mercy”.

His barrister said the defendant had arrived to live in the UK from India and was the son of a heart surgeon.

“This is a young man who has no previous offences and he comes from a good family background and had a good education,” Mr Beeson stated.

“He had been dating a girl for quite some time. He was very much in love with her and thought his future was going to be with her.

“Unfortunately, that lady moved to Canada for her education.”

Mr Beeson added: “Mr Sharma has ruined his life. He’s relatively resigned to that fact that he's lost his good character.

“He's going to lose his liberty, he’s lost the respect of his family and brought great shame upon them.

“His actions have brought the whole deck of cards tumbling to the ground.

“He knows that deportation will follow.”

The judge, Recorder Paul Hartley-Davies, told Sharma: “You knew she was intoxicated.

"I'm also concerned to read that you're assessed as posing a high risk of harm to the public."

He jailed the defendant for nine years and told him he would serve two-thirds of that sentence in custody before being released on licence.

Sharma will have to register as a sex offender for life

After the defendant was taken to the cells, Recorder Hartley-Davies commended the woman for her courage.

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A paedophile has been jailed for historical sexual offences he committed 30 years ago, thanks to the actions of his brave survivors. 

John Corby has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after he targeted three young victims in the Newcastle area, subjecting them to appalling abuse.

The case came to light in November 2021, when one of Corby’s victims came forward to Northumbria Police.

This led officers from the Safeguarding Department to launch a comprehensive investigation.

In January 2022, Corby was interviewed and subsequently charged with two counts of rape, two counts of indecent assault, and one count of gross indecency. He denied all the charges.

After an eight-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court in September, the jury found Corby guilty on all counts.

On Monday, November 18, Corby, 66, of Hallow Drive, Throckley, Newcastle, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

He was also placed under a sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

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A HIGH-RISK sex offender from west Cumbria is back behind bars after online monitoring software alerted police to his latest spate of offending.

Jonathon Fell, 27, whose previous offending earned him a 45-month jail term in 2021, is now under the terms of a strict sexual harm prevention order designed to restrict his online activity.

But at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, Fell, who has lived in Carlisle and west Cumbria, admitted eight new offences, including two allegations of downloading indecent child images and two of possessing child abuse images.

He also pleaded guilty to four allegations of flouting his sexual harm prevention order by accessing online platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

Prosecutor George Shelley said the indecent child images involved were classified as Category B, the second most serious kind, and Category C, of which there were eight images.

In one online conversation, said Mr Shelley, Fell spoke to a person about the age of their child, asking for the age.

His original offending, the court heard, involved sexually abusive behaviour towards babies and other very young children.

He spent days looking for victims online, on one occasion giving nine-year-old boy detailed instructions on sexually interfering with his three-year-old sibling. After that conviction, police described Fell as “manipulative.”

He had lied to both them and other agencies about his online activities, they said. All eight of Fell’s latest offences were committed in the Cockermouth area.

“This defendant is a high-risk sex offender,” said Mr Shelley.

“His previous convictions of a sexual nature involved child contact and it is reassuring that the [police] e-safe monitoring software has flagged these matters up at a very early stage.”

Fell, of Mawsons Court, Cockermouth, asked his lawyer Duncan Campbell to apply for his release on bail. The court heard Fell had 11 previous sexual offences on his record.

Mr Campbell told magistrates it was not "inevitable" that Fell would be jailed for his offending when the case goes to the crown court.

The defendant no longer had access to his digital equipment as it was seized by the police.

“He was fully aware that the e-safe monitoring equipment was on his electronic equipment and that everything was monitored,” said Mr Campbell, suggesting Fell did not hide what he was doing.

Magistrates remanded Fell in custody.

He will be sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court on January 14 next year. In the meantime, probation staff will prepare a background report for the sentencing judge.

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A sex offender who transported an unconscious woman from Camden to Kent to rape her has been jailed.

Seyi Odeyemi, 23, offered to take the victim home for half the price of a taxi that she was trying to book while in Camden on September 3 last year, at around 10pm.

She agreed to the proposition and got into his car, but instead of taking her home he took her to a hotel near Northfleet, Gravesend.

By the time they arrived the woman appeared semi-conscious and was able to stand, but Odeyemi had to carry and drag her to a room.

Once inside, he raped the victim.

She woke up in the morning confused and not recognising Odeyemi.

After it was reported to police, Odeyemi was arrested days later on September 7.

Police established he breached the conditions of a sexual risk order he was under at the time by failing to make the victim of the order and failing to seek consent for sexual activity.

Odeyemi, of Adams Drive, Willesborough, Ashford, was charged with rape and breaching the order.

He pleaded not guilty and was convicted with both counts on August 14 after a trial at Maidstone Crown Court.

On Thursday (December 4), he received an extended sentence with a total of 10 years and six months' imprisonment.

On his release he is required to complete an additional five years on licence.

He will also have a sexual harm prevention order for 20 years and will have to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

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A convicted sex offender who assaulted a child in Gillingham has been handed a further prison sentence.

Ben Hanger, 34, of St Agnes Gardens, Sheerness, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday 4 December to four years in jail after he admitted sexual assault against a girl under 13 and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. He was also ordered to serve an additional five years on licence.

He abused the young girl at a property between 2016 and 2017 and the offences were reported to Kent Police in 2021.

He was arrested at HMP Elmley, where he is serving a 15-year extended sentence after he was convicted following a trial in December 2022. He was jailed after he attempted to kidnap a schoolgirl in January 2021.

This additional sentencing will be added to his total years to serve.

Description

A ‘dangerous’ child sex offender has been found guilty following a three-year-long investigation.

Dominic Scribbins, aged 39 from Plymouth, was found guilty by a jury of 16 offences following a seven-day trial at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 29 November. He was found guilty of the following:

• Eight counts of indecent assault
• Three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13
• Two counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration
• And one count each of assault by penetration, sexual assault and engaging in sexual
• activity in the presence of a child.

The court heard how between 2003 and 2019, Scribbins had sexually and indecently assaulted several young girls in the Bristol and Dorset area, who were between the ages of four and 14 at the time of the incidents.

Officers first started investigating the case in 2021 when one of the victims came forward and reported non-recent sexual assaults by Scribbins. Following this, other victims came forward to make their own reports.

Following an extensive investigation, Scribbins was arrested on 11 November 2021 and later charged on 31 May last year.

Officer in the case Detective Sergeant Lucy Bryant said: “It has been three years since the victims in this case came forward to the police and I thank them for their bravery and resilience in supporting a prosecution.

“Because of their courage, a dangerous child sex offender has been taken off the streets and, following his sentencing in January 2025, will hopefully be in prison for many years to come.

“Sexual offences against such young and vulnerable members of our society are among the most despicable. Children should be able to trust adults and know they are safe in their company, but Scribbins brought about only pain and upset for his victims.

“No matter when the abuse happened, if something has happened to you then please report it to us, you will be believed and supported. We are committed to doing whatever is needed to achieve justice for the victims, while also providing and signposting them to safeguarding and support services.”

Scribbins was found not guilty of one count of sexual assault of a children under 13.

He was remanded into custody and will appear at Bristol Crown Court for sentencing on Monday 13 January next year.

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A “lonely” young man working in the North East, well away from home, sought companionship via a social media dating and friends site for adults, a court heard.

But when Jarrod Hofmann’s post on Wink was responded to by someone claiming to be a 14-year-old girl, he made the misguided error of continuing the conversation, soon moving on to sexual matters.

Durham Crown Court was told Hofmann was unaware, however, that the person purporting to be 14-year-old “Mollie” was, in fact, a decoy profile put up by the paedophile-hunting Child Online Safety Team (COST).

Elisha Marsay, prosecuting, told the court that Hoffman, aged 21 at the time, soon suggested switching the conversation onto WhatsApp.

Over the course of the following 18 days, in March last year, he repeatedly tried to persuade ‘Mollie’ to send him intimate images of herself and told her he would instruct her how to perform a sex act upon herself.

Miss Marsay said the defendant also discussed meeting ‘Mollie’, making travel arrangements so she could spend a night with him.

Members of COST confronted Hoffman at his home, at the time, in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, on March 26, 2023, and police were summoned to the address to arrest the defendant, who was found sitting on the stairs while the paedophile hunters waited at the door.

Following his arrest, Hofmann made no comment in police interviews in March and August last year.

But, by the time the case came before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe, on September 3 this year, the 23-year-old defendant, now living back with his family in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to all four charges put to him.

He admitted attempting to incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, attempting to possess an indecent image of a child, attempted sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming.

The offences were all classed as “attempts” as no actual child was involved, unknown to Hofmann.

Stephen Ferns, in mitigation, said the defendant, who has no previous convictions, was, at the time of the offences, working for National Express based in the North East and felt, “lonely and isolated”.

Mr Ferns said Hofmann was not “actively seeking” a relationship with an underage girl, and accessed an adult site, "seeking a relationship with an adult".

He said the opportunity of it being a child then, “presented itself”.

“He fully accepts knowing the age and continuing the conversation on WhatsApp.

“He was isolated and lonely and had recently moved to a new area and had not had a relationship for four years.

“He had not set out looking for a relationship with a child, but he fully accepts he pursued it when it was presented to him.

“He told the Probation Service he has no sexual interest in children, but it was the case that he became interested in this female when the situation presented itself and he did then have a sexual interest in this child.

“What he told the probation report author was said out of fear, shame and confusion.”

Mr Ferns said the defendant now accepts he needs to address his unhealthy interest.

The lawyer said, following his arrest, Hofmann lost his employment with National Express and moved back to his family home in Gloucestershire.

He has since found new employment, working initially in the haulage industry as a driver.

Mr Ferns said if the defendant was given the opportunity of a non-custodial sentence, he could work with the Probation Service to continue his rehabilitation.

Judge Nathan Adams said, having, “carefully considered” the sentence he should pass, that he was just persuaded to step back from passing an immediate prison sentence.

The judge said, however, that imposing restrictions on the defendant to prevent a repeat of his behaviour were, “entirely necessary” in this case.

Imposing a three-year community order, as a direct alternative to prison, Judge Adams said the defendant must complete 150-hours’ unpaid work, and attend 40 rehabilitation activity days, plus 40 sessions of an accredited programme, both overseen by the Probation Service.

He was also made subject of both a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, including a prohibition on any unsupervised contact with children aged under 18, and the requirement to register as a sex offender, each to run for the next ten years.

Judge Adams told Hoffman he was “making it plain” he must comply with the orders in full and commit no further offences, or risk receiving a first term of imprisonment.

Description

A Fife pensioner upskirted six teenage girls in a Fife Tesco in a single day.

Bruce Clark, 77, of Limekilns, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to plead guilty to five voyeurism offences  – one involving two girls – which took place at the Winterthur Lane store in Dunfermline on November 5 this year.

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A man who arranged to meet and rape two children in a Derbyshire town – sending explicit photos to who he thought was their mother – has been jailed.

Christopher Hackett had been speaking to the ‘mother’ of the two children online, arranging to meet up at a hotel in Alfreton so he could have sex with her 12-year-old ‘daughter’ and eight-year-old ‘son’. He sent explicit photos and described what he wanted to do to the children.

However, the person Hackett was actually speaking to was actually a police officer, and when he arrived at the hotel for the meeting, he was instead arrested.

The 37-year-old had taken a number of items to the hotel, including sweets, bottles of fizzy drinks and a bottle of lubrication.

Following his arrest, his mobile phone was seized and examined and found to contain thousands of indecent images and videos of children.

He was later charged with attempted sexual communication with a child, arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and possession of indecent images.

Hackett, of Town Lane, Rotherham, admitted the offences and appeared at Derby Crown Court on November 12, where he was jailed for seven and a half years – with an extended four-year licence period for dangerousness. He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

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A pervert sent horrific videos of animals being sexually abused to a "teenage girl" he was chatting to online.

Kevin Clark, 63, sent the videos of a woman having sex with a horse and a dog, after the online user said she "liked animals." Clark used the name "John Smyth" on a chat service, when he had the conversation with a girl - who he though was 15 - in April 2022.

He asked her if she wanted to see a video of underage siblings having sex, before telling her that adults posted pornographic pictures of animals on the site and "she was too young to see that and she should leave." Clark said that he was "excited" to see what would be posted.

He then asked the child if she wanted a photo of his private parts; and told her that he was "thinking about her with a dog." Teesside Crown Court has heard that the "child" has never been traced and may have been a teenage girl or an adult decoy, looking for sex offenders online.

Police arrested Clark on May 31, 2023, after receiving intelligence that he had illegal photos of children. They found videos and images of children being sexually abused, on his mobile phone. He had also downloaded 20 photos showing animals being sexually abused.

Clark later pleaded guilty to the distribution of indecent images; three counts of making indecent images; attempting sexual communications with a child; attempting to cause a child to watch a sex act; and to the possession of extreme pornography featuring animals.

In mitigation Nigel Soppitt told the court that Clark had been isolated and grieving the death of his mother, when he committed the offences. "His relationship ended and he had no one to turn to at all during his grieving. Not a single member of his family is alive.

"He resorted to chat rooms and the darker recesses of the internet. He says he engaged in some sort of odd fantasy."

Judge Paul Reid told Clark, "...at 63, most of us have suffered bereavements and traumas, and we do not resort to this utterly disgusting behaviour." He jailed Clark, of Wales Street in Darlington, for 32-months.

He must sign the sex offender' register for the next ten years.