Latest Offenders Birmingham

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A pupil at a top Kent boarding school was sexually assaulted by a senior member of staff, who later went on to teach elsewhere in the country.

Even though the terrified child reported the incident to senior staff at the Maidstone school almost 30 years ago, police were never informed.

Head of chemistry Dr Mohammed Afzal - who was referred to as "X" by his victim - was allowed to resign before going on to teach at other schools, a court has heard.

She told the judge: "When X assaulted me, the school did nothing to support me, other than to dismiss him. I received no mental health support whatsoever.

"I learned to suffer in silence. I was treated like I was a piece of dirt and rubbish to be discarded."

His defiant victim told the judge that her voice was taken away when she was a child before adding: "X effectively imprisoned me and terrified me. My parents and the school did nothing to report X's behaviour to the police.

"But I wanted to be brave for myself and others so that I could speak out.

"My voice was taken away from me when I was a child but I am an adult now. I have carried this burden but it was not my shame. I will no longer suffer in silence for what X did."

The former pupil, who watched proceedings by video-link from an adjoining room, added: "I was particularly vulnerable to X's predatory behaviour because I came from a poor background compared to the majority of pupils.

"School taught me many things but it didn't teach me the warning signs that I was being groomed.

"Signs such as emotional manipulation, coercive behaviour and gaslighting.

"X taught me that words can become dangerous weapons in the mouths of predators."

Afzal - who is now 66 years old - had planned the sex attack after buying alcohol before seducing the child.

Prosecutor Tom Dunn told Maidstone Crown Court: "He was suspended following reports made by the victim who had claimed she had been indecently assaulted.

"However, the school chose not to inform the police about the complaints, and instead they suspended him."

It was only in 2019 when the victim told police that she was suffering from poor mental health caused by her ordeal that criminal investigations began.

The prosecutor told how the pupil was lured to his home in the school on the pretext of babysitting duties.

When the girl realised there were no children present he made excuses before making her telephone her parents claiming she was babysitting.

He added: "Afzal came in to visit her, and seemed concerned about her welfare. He suggested that he would cook dinner for her.

"She said that Afzal gave her wine, which made her feel unusually heavy, and then got into bed with her.

The predator said: "Why don't you kiss me? You are a beautiful girl.

"He then sexually assaulted her by forcing his tongue into her mouth, groping her breasts and touching her."

Mr Dunn also revealed that the devious doctor also had inappropriate relationships with other pupils at the time.

Afzal, now of Sheldon in Birmingham, was arrested at the city's airport before boarding a flight to Dubai.

He was found guilty of sexual assault and has now been jailed for three years and ordered to pay his victim 1,000 compensation.

The court heard how police officers were also able to find written details backing the child's complaint in the archives at Sutton Valence - and a tape recording of Afzal attempting to seduce another pupil.

The judge, Recorder Patricia Hitchcock QC, told him his victim had found his behaviour "disgusting" adding: "Your actions have had a devastating effect on her life.

"Kent Police takes all reports of sexual offences very seriously, no matter how much time has passed since the incident took place"

"You are a highly educated man but you are still unable to grasp the seriousness of your crime."

Investigating officer DC Dan Williams said: "Kent Police takes all reports of sexual offences very seriously, no matter how much time has passed since the incident took place.

"Such offences are never forgotten by the victims, who always display tremendous courage in speaking up to ensure their attackers can be brought to justice.

"The crime committed by Mohammad Afzal was dreadful and I hope his imprisonment sends a clear message to other victims that you can speak to us, we will believe you and we will carry out a full and thorough investigation to bring those responsible before the courts."

A spokesman for the school said: We condemn the actions of this individual in the strongest possible terms, and we express our sympathy to the victims.

"The school notified the Department for Education directly in 1993, following the staff members immediate suspension, and the authorities chose to take no further action.

"The school was first approached by police in 2019 for information to support the recent criminal case, and we have provided our full support throughout.

"In recent inspections, the school has been praised for its safeguarding procedures nothing is more important than the safety of members of our community.

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A former journalist and convicted sex offender who posed as a police officer on dating apps has been jailed for 28 months.

Bradley Baker, 28, possessed his own uniform and lied to his ex-partner, family and friends that he worked for British Transport Police (BTP). A court heard the fantasist posed as an officer on dating apps and also used a fake warrant card to travel for free on the railway and bus networks.

Baker, of Handsworth, Birmingham, was found out after being reported to North Wales Police for a separate offence. He was reported serving as a BTP Special Constable based in Birmingham, but enquiries soon established he had never worked for the force.

Officers searched his home on February 1 last year and seized a police uniform including a warrant card badge and holder displaying DC Baker. Two fake BTP warrant cards and multiple police lanyards were also recovered by the force. Baker tried to throw laptops out of his window as officers arrived, which were found to be unregistered.

This breached a sexual harm prevention order which stated that any electrical device in his possession must be registered with police. A laptop which was later found to be stolen from his previous job as a journalist was also recovered as well as amounts of cannabis.

Baker pleaded guilty to possession of police articles and two counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which was handed to him after committing three sexual offences involving children in 2018. He was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on March 25 after also pleading guilty to one count of theft by employee and two counts of possession of Class B cannabis.

BTP Police Constable Jade Ledbrook, said: Possessing fake items of police uniform and posing as a police officer is an extremely serious offence, and Im glad that the severity of Bakers delusional actions is reflected in his sentence. Sexual Harm Prevention Orders are given to protect the public, and Bakers blatant disregard for this demonstrates his dangerous mindset.

Had he not been stopped as a result of this extensive investigation, he could have continued to commit even further, and potentially more serious, crimes - therefore Im pleased to see him behind bars.

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Two bouncers working at a nightclub in Wolverhampton have been jailed for rape.

Hassan Bockarie, who is from Erdington in Birmingham, and Iyoseph Derry, of no fixed address, were sentenced to almost 20 years in prison collectively after taking advantage of a woman in her 20s who had been enjoying a night out.

The woman had been drinking at a works Christmas party in December, 2018, and visited a nightclub later that evening, where Bockarie and Derry were working as doormen.

The pair targeted the woman, who was with another woman, after seeing her intoxicated and bought her more drinks before offering to take both women home just after 4am the following morning.

Being bouncers, the women trusted them to get them back safely.

They dropped one of the women home, but then instead of taking the other woman back home safely they drove her to a flat in Birmingham and raped her.

Both men denied the allegations, however after three years of investigative work, officers from the West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit were able to prove their actions and how they abused their position of trust.

Bockarie initially denied any knowledge of the women, however intelligence checks and forensic work, including DNA evidence linking him to the crime, later saw him change his account.

Bockarie 34, of High Street, Erdington, was found guilty of rape and sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (4 February).

Iyoseph Derry, 33, of no fixed address, was also found guilty of rape following a trial, as well as aiding and abetting rape, and jailed for 10 years.

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As the smirking face of rapist Iyoseph Derry appeared in the paper, a traumatised mum spiralled into a catastrophic breakdown. Suddenly she could smell him again.

She was reminded of that 'look of evil' in his eyes and could feel him breathing down her neck. Because at the age of 19, she became his first victim.

To her horror, she wasn't his last. She wept as she discovered the thug who 'broke her eye socket, dented her skull and sliced her throat with a knife' had gone on to rape a vulnerable clubber.

The brave survivor of his first attack has now broken her silence as the 33-year-old sits behind bars, serving a decade-long sentence for rape and abetting rape in 2018.

"When I saw him in the paper, that was the final straw. I went into hibernation," the mum told BirminghamLive after the February 2022 sentence.

"I quit my job and everything, I wouldn't go to work. I felt like I could smell him. I felt I could still feel him breathing down my neck.

"I could see that look, that anger that he had in his eyes when he was punching me and I was screaming."

Only a week into dating Derry, on November 13, 2006, she says he punched her so hard she was left with a broken eye socket. He was convicted of wounding with intent and threats to kill; crimes that saw him jailed for a nine year extended sentence in 2010.

"People like him, will never stop. That's the one thing I know with that man," she continued. "He doesn't learn, he doesn't care. He's got no feeling, he is horrible."

Before she saw news of the rape, the mum-of-one had been trying to plough on with life and move forward. But the second she saw his mugshot in the paper, she suffered a breakdown and the memories came flooding back.

"He broke my eye socket and dented my skull, sliced my throat with a knife. I should have had a metal plate in my face," she recalled.

"When the jury looked at the pictures of me, I was unrecognisable. In the original Candyman, he hits her in the face with his hook when she's in the toilet and her eye is the size of a golf ball - my face was all swollen like that.

"I looked like a model the one side but the other side of the face was absolutely destroyed."

After the attack, she "managed to convince" Derry to take her to the hospital for the injury to her face. "People were saying it was only a black eye. But I could feel it in my head, it was radiating through my face like a shockwave," she added.

"I went to the toilet and my nose kept running. Even though my face was smashed in, I was trying to make sure that my son didn't see me crying.

"I blew my nose and when I did, my eye popped out like a balloon and I looked and said, 'this is not a black eye, I need to go to the hospital'.

"He put a knife to my throat and said, 'when you go hospital what you going to say?' I said: 'That you did it'. He just dug the knife further in my throat and I knew I was not going to get away with telling them."

When they arrived at hospital the terrified young mum told a nurse she had been punched in a mugging, but she probed further.

"He was threatening to batter me when we got back"

"He was watching me like a hawk. From there, she said 'who did it?', my son turned around and said 'he did it'. He kicked off as she (the nurse) walked away," she claimed.

"He dragged me out of the hospital because he thought she was going to call someone. We had gone to the bus stop and he was threatening to batter me when we got back."

Once on board the double decker bus, she said he tried to threaten her into coming upstairs with her young son. But, with an escape route in mind, she refused.

"He said to me: 'If you don't get upstairs, I'm going to do to your face what I did to that side' and started laughing. He told me to watch what happens when we get back.

"I sat on the bus and the adrenaline just kicked in and I ran to the driver and said 'let me off'. He told me he couldn't.

"I moved my hair from my face and removed the cap from my head and I said 'he's done this to me and if you don't let me off this bus my life will be in your hands'".

He opened the doors and she "dragged her son across the road" in a desperate attempt to escape Derry. She ran to Edgbaston police station, which was being revamped at the time.

"They had a little container outside I just went to ask them to call me a taxi, but it said no caps, no hoods, no hats," she said.

"I removed my cap and some drunken guy was saying 'look at the state of her'. It was absolutely disgusting. I just walked outside and lay on the floor, I just completely collapsed.

"My son just stood there rubbing my back. It was quite heartbreaking," she said, now choking back tears on the thought of it.

A kind-hearted taxi driver took the mother and son to a petrol station, bought sweets to "calm down" the child and never charged her for the ride. The following day, once her boy was safe, she called West Midlands Police.

It took months to arrest him, as she said he was going under a fake name 'Reheem' at the time. He was eventually jailed for five years in prison, with a four year extension period in 2010. But despite justice being served, she still suffers with headaches from his attack to this day.

And the simple task of blowing her nose is not an option, with air becoming trapped behind her eye if she does.

"The doctors gave me two options," she recalled, "I either suffer with the headaches and my vision or I risk my vision and have the metal plate to control the headaches.

"I didn't want to be partially blind. They said with the operation there are complications because of where he broke my eye socket. It was right on the corner of the sinus and that part of the face doesn't heal. So even to this day I can't blow my nose."

In 2018, Derry and another bouncer went on to target a vulnerable woman while working at the trouble-hit Banjul Nightclub in Wolverhampton. Derry raped her in the car before she was assaulted further at a flat.

The rapist, of no fixed address, was jailed for ten years after being found guilty of rape and aiding and abetting rape in a Birmingham Crown Court trial. His partner in crime Hassan Bockarie, 34, of High Street, Erdington, was convicted of one charge of rape and sentenced to eight-and-a-half years.

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A man has been jailed for child sex offences after police tracked him down to a mechanics workshop in Canada.

Mohammed Schwitters, from Birmingham, sexually abused a child over a period of seven years starting when the girl was just 10-years-old.

It happened between 2010 and 2017 and police arrested Schwitters when the offences were reported to themin 2017.

Schwitters, aged 55, skipped the country during the investigation but officers from the Public Protection Unit worked over the next three years to track him down.

Police finally caught up with him on 1 September 2020 - working together with the Canadian Authorities - they tracked the mobile phone number and bank accounts he used to a mechanics workshop in Toronto.

He was extradited back to the UK and appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on the 10 December 2021 where he pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault on a child, three counts of attempted rape and three counts of assault by penetration.

This week (Friday 4 March), Schwitters was jailed for 18 years; he will remain on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Detective Constable Kat Sands said: This case really highlights how we take reports of sexual abuse very seriously and will work with survivors, help get them the support they need, and work with them to bring offenders to justice.

It is never too late to report sexual abuse and we will leave no stone unturned to get justice.

While this sentence can never undo what happened, I hope the victim will find some comfort in knowing justice has been served.

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A sadistic online blackmailer has been jailed for 32 years after targeting nearly 2,000 people globally to commit some of the most sickening sexual offending the National Crime Agency has ever investigated.

Abdul Hasib Elahi, 26, masqueraded as a stockbroker or rich businessman on sugar daddy websites and promised payments of thousands of pounds for naked or partially clothed images.

He singled out victims who were in debt or too young to legitimately be on the sites and tricked them into sending him photographs.

He also targeted some victims on social media.

Elahi, of Sparkhill, Birmingham, sent fake screenshots of money leaving his account in similar transactions to convince victims.

As soon as possible, Elahi moved victims onto WhatsApp - which is protected by end-to-end encryption - and away from the websites he met them on.

When he received enough revealing images he threatened to expose the pictures to the victims’ families and friends unless they sent more increasingly horrendous photographs and videos.

Elahi’s horrific offences included forcing victims to abuse themselves in sickening ways including self-mutilation, blackmailing women to send him footage of them abusing young children and making girls abuse siblings.

Some of the victims were so terrified they felt they had no choice but to comply.

The National Crime Agency investigation showed there were at least 196 victims in the UK and that he had contacted at least 600 people online in the UK.

Elahi had also tried to contact 1,367 women in the United States and there were also victims in 20 other countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The Agency worked with international partners to safeguard those Elahi had contacted.

Elahi systematically categorised all the abuse within cloud storage sites.

He then sold the content as ‘box sets’ through the cloud and via the encrypted app Telegram making more than £25,000.

That resulted in further misery for the victims, with their family and friends becoming aware, and often with more offenders trying to blackmail them again.

Unemployed Elahi admitted 158 charges - all committed between 1 January 2017 and 7 August 2020 - in separate hearings at Birmingham Crown Court this year.

The charges include multiple counts of blackmail, disclosing private sexual films and photographs to cause distress, making and distributing indecent images of children, encouraging the sexual assault of children, sexually assaulting a boy, causing or inciting children to engage in sexual activity, fraud and possessing more than 65,000 indecent images of children (IIOC) – including babies being raped.

There were 72 victims on the indictment.

Their ages ranged from eight months to adults.

Where they could be identified, all have been safeguarded.

National Crime Agency officers arrested Elahi on 19 December 2018 following an allegation he was blackmailing a 15-year-old girl in America. His mobile phone and computers were seized and forensically examined.

The complex investigation involved work across multiple foreign jurisdictions. He was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service and remanded in August 2020.

As Elahi he was sentenced today at Birmingham Crown Court, a series of victim impact statements were read.

One victim – a schoolgirl at the time of the offences – said she tried to take a paracetamol overdose after learning Elahi had uploaded her images to Twitter.

It was 12 months after she had sent him images that she received messages on her phone one morning showing her images online.

She said: “I still think about these incidents often which makes me sad.

“I would say for two years this person has ruined my life, I was heartbroken. I remember my 16th birthday, I spent the night crying, I was severely depressed.

“I had to basically pick up the pieces of my life and glue them back together.

“I am trying to move on but I find it very hard, I feel that this will be with me for the rest of my life.”

Another teenage victim said: “Knowing that this cancerous polyp of a human being has been caught gives me great relief. To know his vile reign of terror is over gives me relief.

“I am however shaken to my soul and completely horrified that I was part of this. I have a feeling of dread when I think about it that I can’t even describe and it will never leave me.”

Another victim said she considered taking her own life and is now on medication for anxiety and depression and is constantly worried that videos of her will emerge online again.

“I wish that this had never happened to me,” she said.

“I hope I can put this behind me and get on with the rest of my life."

Tony Cook, NCA Head of CSA operations, said: “Abdul Elahi is a depraved sadist who got sexual gratification through power and control over his victims whom he often goaded to the point of wanting to kill themselves.

“He has wrecked lives and families.

“NCA investigators were horrified by what Elahi had done and stunned by the industrial scale of his worldwide offending.

“The effects on the victims in this case will continue throughout the rest of their lives.

“I commend them for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available.

“There are very many offenders like Elahi who mask their real identities with convincing personas to exploit both children and adults.

“It’s vital that parents speak with their children about who they communicate with online and what they share.

“These offences can happen to anyone.

“We thank our international partners especially the FBI for the support given to us on this case.”

The NCA investigation sparked a series of other inquiries into Elahi’s associates.

Several other men have been convicted.

Sophie Mortimer of the Revenge Porn Helpline said: “This is a long-awaited day for Elahi’s very many victims.

“The Revenge Porn Helpline has been working for two and half years and has removed 135,000 individual images on behalf of those affected, equalling a 90% takedown rate.

“We hope that every person affected by this feels some small sense of closure today, we know that their priority is the removal of this content. We will continue to work in the weeks and months ahead to report this content and we would encourage anyone with any concerns about their own images to get in touch with us and we will do everything we can to offer advice and support.”

A second defendant Kirsty Nicholls, 36, of Northolt, Middlesex, also admitted offences.

She knew Elahi from a sugar daddy website and together they admitted two sexual assaults against a child and both admitted making indecent images of the child.

She was sentenced to six years and nine months.

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A graphic designer has been jailed for more than five years for terrorising six women in an online abuse campaign.

Shaquille Williams, 26, blackmailed one woman by threatening to send private sexual photographs of her to her family and friends unless she sent him more images which he tried to direct.

The victim had already been targeted by sadistic blackmailer and paedophile Abdul Hasib Elahi, 26 – one of the worst online sexual offenders the National Crime Agency has ever investigated.

Elahi is currently awaiting sentencing after admitting 158 sickening online offences in a separate NCA investigation.

Elahi, of Sparkhill, Birmingham, masqueraded as a businessman or stockbroker on sugar daddy websites and conned victims into sending him sexual images of themselves.

He then blackmailed them into filming themselves performing increasingly degrading acts and sending him the footage.

Elahi posted the footage online where Williams, of Hartness Road, Clifton, Nottingham, acquired some of it.

Today, at Nottingham Crown Court, Williams was jailed for five years and three months after being convicted at trial of blackmailing the victim between 10 January 2019 and 10 May 2019.

He was also convicted of three counts of harassing three women and putting them in fear of violence between 18 April 2019 and 21 May 2019, and convicted of two counts of sending grossly offensive messages to two other women.

Using various social media accounts, university graduate Williams sent the women horrendous abuse including pictures of acid attack victims.

One victim received messages including the name of her home town, a picture of hydrochloric acid and a message featuring her road name.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Andy Peach said: “Williams inflicted extreme terror on these victims – they have been exceptionally brave in coming forward to ensure he faced justice and went to jail.

“Williams is a coward and a twisted, callous, sexual deviant.

“Some of his crimes were made possible because of Abdul Elahi whose sadistic depravity and scale of offending horrified the investigative team.

“There are a series of other inquiries into Elahi’s associates.”

Elahi will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on a date to be confirmed.

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A wicked rapist whose 13-year-old victim became pregnant in the 1970s has been jailed decades after the crime, following a successful prosecution pursued by his victims daughter.

Carvel Bennett, now 74, admitted having sex with the youngster more than 40 years ago, but claimed at his trial that she had seduced him and consented, telling him she was 16.

He was convicted by a Birmingham Crown Court jury in less than two hours, and jailed for 11 years on Tuesday.

Giving evidence at his trial, unapologetic Bennett was asked if he owed anything to his victim, and replied: I dont feel I have to apologise to her. I dont feel I have done anything to her.

"Carvel Bennett, you have caused total carnage. Your act of violence decimated any potential relationship between my birth mother and I because you chose to rape a child"

Bennett's daughter in her witness statement in court

Judge Martin Hurst, sentencing, told Bennett, who had no previous convictions, he had engaged in victim-blaming at the trial, adding: You hold her responsible for your wicked act.

He said the jury had seen through the rapists ridiculous claim that the victim had instigated sex, having concocted evidence for the trial.

The judge said: Your behaviour that day has ruined at least two lives and I hope you spend time in prison considering it.

Bennett, of Hansons Bridge Road, Birmingham, did not react as he was sentenced.

The victim had turned 14 by the time she gave birth to a baby girl, who was fostered and later put up for adoption.

DNA results proved Bennett was the father, though he had denied paternity at the time of the offence and during the new police investigation in 2019.

The fresh inquiry only took place after the victims now adult daughter campaigned for the case to be investigated.

In court she was praised by the judge who said she had pursued justice in this case for herself and her mother, doggedly and with determination.

The judge said the authorities, including police and social services, had been told of the offence in the 1970s, but felt brushing it under the carpet was the way to handle the accusation.

He said a harrowing note from social services at the time showed the victims mother immediately disowned her after discovering she was pregnant.

The child was placed into adoption with a family of a different ethnic background, the judge added.

Judge Hurst said the victims daughter, who only discovered the truth when her files were released to her on her 18th birthday, met many closed doors, and essentially she had to persuade her mother to relive the trauma to get a successful prosecution.

Pursuit of justice must be commended and I do commend her for taking those steps, and I can only encourage others to do the same, the judge said.

A powerful victim impact statement on behalf of Bennetts victim was read in court, in which she remembered being told to say nothing, adding: I knew no-one would care or believe me.

She was told to go back to school as normal immediately after the birth.

I had no support and was scared I was left to deal with it alone, she said.

To be raped, pregnant and give birth was traumatic and horrendous for me.

People told me how disgusting I was, being pregnant as a child. I was carrying his shame, although for me, the shame was also mine.

Bennetts daughter read her own impact statement in court, telling him as he sat yards away in the dock: Carvel Bennett, you have caused total carnage.

Your act of violence decimated any potential relationship between my birth mother and I because you chose to rape a child.

At times emotional, she charted the years of upset after his crime.

Addressing Bennett, wearing glasses and a mask, and leaning forward with his left hand to his ear, she told him he had evaded justice for years.

You have got to have a family life, she said.

You had the opportunity to get married, have children, live with those children and watch them grow up.

She spoke of the devastation her mother must have felt at being separated from her daughter in hospital, and how another bond and attachment was broken a few months later when she herself was moved from foster care to adoption.

The victims daughter also spoke of times spent wondering who I looked like, why I wasnt with my birth mother, why hadnt I been wanted with no one to share those feelings with.

She said: Because you chose to rape a child I have had my birth identity stolen from me on my maternal and paternal sides.

What has been passed down to me is intergenerational trauma a family heirloom Id rather not have.

She spoke of making the horrifying discovery about her background, at the age of 18, and to know that I am, for some, the embodiment of one of the worst things that could happen to someone.

But she added: I am more than evidence, I am more than a witness, I am more than a product of rape.

I am not your shame and I will not carry the shame and horror of what you chose to do.

Speaking afterwards, the victims daughter, who cannot be identified to protect her mothers identity, said she was pleased and relieved, adding it should not have taken more than 40 years for a child rapist to be away from children in Birmingham.

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This is the face of a vile paedophile who has been jailed for sexually abusing a girl, toddler and a baby.

Christopher Mark Parkes has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for the sickening offences.

The 48-year-old's offending came to light when the oldest of his victims, a teenage girl, told her mother that she had been assaulted by him..

She told her mum that Parkes had started "blackmailing" her, asking for sexual activity.

Further investigations into the paedophile showed he had also abused a toddler.

Parkes, from Vardon Way, Kings Norton, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on January 21, where he was jailed for 17 years and three months.

He had pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of voyeurism and three counts of making indecent images of a child.

He will also be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Parkes committed the offences between January 2019 and August 2020 against his three victims.

When police raided his property, they found images of some of the abuse including that of the very young children on the defendants phone.

Parkes initially denied the charges but changed his plea after overwhelming evidence was presented to him.

West Midands Police released a picture of Parkes.

Julia McSorley, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: This was a distressing case and our thoughts are with the young victims and their families.

"Christopher Parkes is an extremely dangerous man with a perverted sexual interest in very young children, including a baby and a toddler.

"It is rightly so that he has received a lengthy prison sentence which reflects the seriousness of his offending. He will now be in prison where he can no longer be a danger to other children.

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A 'feared' evangelical pastor who used his trusted position to abuse children and adults over 20 years has been jailed for 34 years after his conviction for multiple rapes of members of his congregation.

Self-styled prophet Michael Oluronbi, originally from Nigeria and living in Birmingham, was found guilty of the offences against six women and a man in January, actions described by a judge as 'one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts'.

Some of his offences were carried out after he convinced victims, five of whom attended his church, to take part in 'spiritual bathing', which he claimed would 'cleanse' them of evil spirits.

During the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, a jury heard that some of his young female victims became pregnant multiple times but were taken to abortion clinics by qualified pharmacist Oluronbi, to cover up what was happening.

He was convicted of 15 counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault - as his sentencing hearing heard there were at least 88 separate occasions on which he raped his victims.

Judge Sarah Buckingham said the real purpose of the 'spiritual baths' was to 'fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite'.

The 60-year-old's wife Juliana was jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of three counts of aiding and abetting rape after helping arrange some of the terminations.

Both defendants will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

Sentencing 'arrogant' Oluronbi on Friday, Judge Buckingham said: 'You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths.

'Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite.

'The children feared you and this enable you to continue your grip.

'Your offending has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants.

'Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation.

'You abused your position of trust - they trusted you like God.'

The judge continued: 'You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man.

'In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.'

The religious leader was brought to justice after one of his victims, now an adult, came forward.

When eventually confronted about his offences, Oluronbi said 'the devil made me do it'.

In statements read to the court by the prosecution, one of the victims said the defendant's actions made her 'question if my life was worth living'.

During the trial, jurors heard Oluronbi was linked to a Christian church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, whose roots were in Nigeria.

He set up on his own splinter group for about 40 adults and children, separate to the church and located at another address, where he began a practice of 'spiritual bathing'.

The offences took place in Birmingham and London.

Phil Bradley QC, prosecuting, told the jury: 'The Crown's case is that Mr Oluronbi used what he called 'spiritual work' as a subterfuge for that sexual abuse.

'The main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer 'holy baths' to some of his congregation in order to 'cleanse' them and protect them from evil influences.

'That activity began when his victims were children.

'There can be no doubt that its real purpose was to serve his sexual gratification.'

He added that for some of the female victims the offending 'progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations'.

'You will learn that this man, who was revered and feared by his victims, kept a vice-like grip on many of them and continued to abuse them well into adulthood,' Mr Bradley said.

Oluronbi's victims described him as 'controlling' and 'almost like a king'.

The offending happened over a period of 20 years, at various locations, going back to the 1980s.

Oluronbi was arrested at Birmingham Airport in May last year, while trying to leave the country for Nigeria with some of his ceremonial belongings and a sum of cash.

Police are unable to say whether he was trying to flee justice, but pointed out he had recently been confronted about the abuse by one of his victims.

For his victims, the ordeal has taken a 'massive' physical and mental toll, detectives said.

Describing Oluronbi as 'intelligent', Detective Superintendent Nick Walton of West Midlands Police said the pastor 'laughed' in court on several occasions while giving evidence in his own defence.

Mr Walton said Oluronbi had been working as a pastor until his arrest in May 2018.

Police also believe there could be more victims and have urged anyone with information to get in touch.

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A pilot arrested after landing a flight at Manchester Airport has been jailed for raping a child.

Tevin McLeod was detained by police when he flew into Manchester on Saturday, September 7.

The following day the 28-year-old was charged with the rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.

A mugshot, issued by West Midlands Police, appears to show him still in his pilot's uniform.

Police say McLeod initially denied the offences, but Birmingham Crown Court heard he had sent a number of messages to the girl acknowledging the abuse in a desperate bid to stop her reporting the sickening crimes.

In the messages, he spoke about his reputation being tarnished if people found out about the attacks, which happened between 2015 and 2016.

He also told the girl he would lose his career as a pilot and go to jail because she was underage.

McLeod, of no fixed address, later admitted to the rape and sexual assault and was jailed on Friday, November 8.

He was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order on his release.

Det Con Stewart Garratt, from West Midlands Police's Birmingham Child Abuse Public Protection Team, praised the victim's bravery in coming forward.

He said: "For a child to speak out and report sexual abuse is a huge deal for them and I commend the bravery of this young girl for confiding in someone.

"It's for these sorts of crimes involving children that we have a dedicated specialist department with officers specially trained to help young people through the judicial process.

"I've no doubt that the voice of this child has stopped other children being targeted."

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A paedophile who systematically abused and raped his young victim over a period of three years has been jailed for 19 years.

Muhammed Irfan, 35, from Sparkhill, in Birmingham, was convicted of raping a child under the age of 13 after a five-day trial.

He was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on August 9 after his brave victim spoke to police.

Irfan had threatened the schoolgirl’s family and told them to make sure she didn’t speak about the abuse.

The jury was read a statement from the victim who talked about how the abuse had affected her childhood.

She said: “Throughout my childhood and in school, I was what I would describe as a naughty child.

“I would fight boys, be disruptive, answer teachers back and just not go to lessons. It is only now I am old enough to realise why I was like this.”

She added “I am so glad other people have believed what happened to me and the regular abuse I suffered. Although I am happy knowing he is going to prison, I still don’t know if I will ever be able to move on from what has happened to me.”

Detective Constable Tom Parkes, from the Public Protection Unit, said: “This young girl should have been enjoying her school years and preparing for adulthood. The abuse she suffered has clearly had a long-term traumatic effect and I hope this sentence helps to put her on the road to recovery.

“We work with specialist agencies who can offer support from the moment a crime is reported, through the investigation and trial process, and beyond. I commend her bravery in speaking out and wish her well for the future.”

Irfan was told he would serve 19 years with an extended licence period of one year when he was sentenced on September 18.

He will not be eligible to apply for parole for at least ten years and will remain on the Sex Offender Register for life.

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Shawn Bennett, 29, of Gilbert Road, Smethwick, was found unanimously guilty by the jury at Worcester Crown Court of two counts of rape including rape of a girl under 16-years-old, eight counts of sexual offences, two counts of assault, theft and a threat to kill today, Thursday, June 6.

The court on the afternoon of Monday, October 22, 2018, Bennett held a woman at knifepoint, in her home in Redditch, and assaulted and raped her.

Later that afternoon he followed a 14-year-old girl who was leaving from a bus in Redditch, pulling her into the bushes where he assaulted, raped and threatened to kill her.

In the evening, Bennett then travelled to Rubery. After making inappropriate suggestions to two women he has then tried to drag them both into some undergrowth.

He was then apprehended by officers at the scene of this final attack.

Bennett was sentenced to 30 years in prison and must serve a minimum of 16 years and sign the sex offenders register.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Bailey from West Mercia Police said: “Bennett is an extremely dangerous sex offender who spent the day of Monday, October 22 carrying out these horrific crimes.

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A top liver surgeon who had online sex chats with a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Dr Timothy Evans, 39, posed as a 15-year-old boy and persuaded his victim to send him intimate pictures of herself.

Evans worked at the Queen Elizabeth and Good Hope hospitals in Birmingham as a registrar and tried to blame a colleague for his crimes.

Last December Evans was found guilty of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

On Friday (15/3) Evans, of Harborne, Birmingham, was jailed and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

He was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Jurors heard Evans was arrested on April 20, 2016 on suspicion of engaging in sexual activity in front of a child but was later acquitted.

During the investigation police seized computers from his home and discovered he had set up a fake Skype profile.

Officers found out he was using it to speak to the girl, who was from Norway, in February 2012.

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A Birmingham school has issued a statement after an assistant headteacher who tried to seduce a 13-year-old girl was jailed.

Andrew Shelton, who used to work at Harborne Primary School, was locked up for nearly three years.

He was caught with indecent images of children.

None of the offences related to children at the school.

Harborne Primary issued a statement on its website in a bid to reassure parents.

It said Shelton was suspended last July and sacked in January.

The statement said: "Some of you may have seen media coverage about a former assistant head teacher at this school who earlier this week was jailed in relation to child sex offences.

"I understand this might cause concern but I would like to reassure all parents and carers that police have confirmed that none of the offences relate to his former role at the school, and he was suspended from the school in July 2017 and then dismissed in January 2018.

"The safety and wellbeing of our children is our absolute priority and if any parents have concerns they can contact Mandy Hughes, Head Teacher."

The 52-year-old regularly encouraged the youngster and other children to send him explicit images.

Officers were alerted to his contact with the teenager over Skype across March and April last year.

They then searched his home in Woodman Close, Halesowen .

Shelton was found to have 93 indecent images across his computer and mobile phone; along with evidence that he had messaged other youngsters and searched for indecent images of children.

The 52-year-old admitted eight charges, including attempted sexual communication with a child, trying to incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and possessing indecent images of children.

He was jailed for two years and eight months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday (18 September).

He no longer works as a teacher and none of the charges related to his role.

Det Sgt Rob Grace , from the forces Public Protection Unit, said: "Shelton was trying to coerce children over the internet and encourage them to send inappropriate images.

He was a role model for young people as a teacher but away from the classroom he preyed on them for his own gratification.

Safeguarding of children will always be a top priority for the force.

"Anyone who encourages child abuse by viewing or sharing paedophilic images or engages in explicit conversations involving children needs to prepare themselves for being caught and hauled before the courts."