Latest Offenders Birmingham

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A Birmingham rapist, who told two girls that his sick assaults were their secret so he could continue to sexually abuse them, has been jailed for 16 years.

Paedophile Dwayne Kesto, of Parkfield Avenue, Harborne, assaulted the girls over a number of years.

The 40-year-olds reign of terror continued until one of them confided in a teacher.

As soon as he had been exposed, Kesto went on the run for three years, but he was eventually snared by police in March.

Kesto was convicted of the non-recent offences at Wolverhampton Crown Court after an eight-day trial and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to the lengthy prison term.

Det Sgt Jayne Killoch, of West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit, said: Kesto told the girls it was their secret, so that he could continue his predatory behaviour.

Kesto evaded arrest for three years, but we caught up with him in March and he was remanded into custody while a meticulous investigation was carried out.

He will be deported to Jamaica upon his release from prison.

Det Sgt Killoch added: Both girls gave evidence in court, acting with dignity and courage throughout the trial and I commend their bravery.

I hope that seeing their abuser brought to justice goes some way to help them overcome the nightmare they must surely have suffered.

I hope that their story helps other young girls find the courage to report abuse, even if it happened many years ago.

We have specially trained officers who can help survivors of sexual assault through every step of the process, from initial reporting to the court procedure.

We work with a raft of other agencies who also provide support and comfort.

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A Birmingham grammar school teacher has received a suspended jail sentence after admitting making and possessing indecent images of children.

Oliver Downes, 40 and from Erdington, had also pleaded guilty in court to the production of a Class B drug, cannabis, following his arrest by police.

He had taught for more than 13 years at the prestigious Bishop Vesey Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield, a role which included him coaching rugby to pupils.

The teacher was suspended after the police investigation and he resigned from his post last July.

In a statement after the court case, a Bishop Vesey spokesman said: “The school has co-operated fully with the police. The offences relate to the former teacher’s behaviour outside of school and there is no evidence to suggest any child from the school was involved in any way.

“The member of staff was suspended and resigned on 18 July with immediate effect.”

Downes had appeared at Birmingham Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of children and nine counts of possessing indecent images of children. He had also admitted production of a Class B drug, cannabis.

He received a 12 month jail sentence for making indecent images, suspended for two years, along with concurrent suspended sentences of nine months for possession of indecent images and two months for the drugs charge.

He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community. He was also ordered to attend a sex offenders’ work programme for 50 hours and was placed on a two-year supervision order.

Bishop Vesey is one of the oldest schools in the West Midlands, founded in the 16th Century. Today it caters for more than 900 pupils and has almost 100 full and part-time members of staff.

Downes, an avid football fan, had joined the school in 2001, having graduated from university in 1998.

He had previously been a student at King Edward VI School in Aston.

On his Facebook site, Downes describes himself as single and as ‘‘chilled, different, fun, intense, work that out.’’

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A nursery worker who raped a toddler and groomed 22 other girls over the internet has been jailed for life. Paul Wilson, 21, admitted 47 charges including rape and grooming and must serve at least 15 years of a life term. Wilson, of Nechells, Birmingham, abused the toddler at Little Stars Nursery in the city, and filmed the rape on his mobile phone. Prosecutors said concerns raised by other nursery staff did not stop the abuse. Wilson began working at the nursery in October 2009. Six members of staff raised concerns about his behaviour before his arrest, on 5 January this year, but he had continued to work there despite receiving a written warning. The judge said it was "a matter of some incredulity" that he had not been disciplined further for "deliberate blatant" flouting of nursery rules. The Birmingham Safeguarding Trust board has started a serious case review into the matter and will not comment further at this stage. Sentencing, the judge described his offences as "chilling, vile and depraved". 'Girls threatened' Mrs Justice Macur said he had caused unknown harm to the toddler and more than 20 young girls who were abused online. "You are highly deviant, highly manipulative. You are intelligent and the more dangerous for being so," she said. The court heard Wilson, of Newbold Croft, was arrested after being reported by one of the girls he groomed. He contacted 22 girls on the internet then made them perform sex acts via a webcam. The victims were aged between 12 and 15, the court was told at an earlier hearing. He would record images and use them to blackmail his victims into carrying out sexual acts for him. After sentencing, Wendy Bounds of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Wilson had "preyed" on young girls he met in internet chat rooms. "He hid his real identity and led the girls to think he was a friend and asked them to turn their webcams on and by this means he was able to see them in intimate situations," she said. Pictures sent on If his approach failed, he would use other aliases on social networking sites to gain their trust, or threaten them in order to get them to perform sexual acts which he would watch, she said. "Unfortunately, the teenage girls did not realise that they were in effect allowing a stranger into their bedroom with a camera." Pictures of one of the girls were then sent on to another male, she said. "He then took this one step further by targeting and raping a vulnerable child at a nursery where he was working. "Unfortunately, concerns raised by other staff about his behaviours and the appropriateness of his relationship with the child did not prevent this happening." It was left to one girl to come forward and report the abuse to police, she said. Ofsted issued a statement earlier in the case proceedings saying it had referred allegations to the local authority, Birmingham City Council. An Ofsted spokesman said: "When Ofsted received allegations from a member of staff about possible safeguarding concerns at Little Stars Nursery, we immediately referred the allegations to the local authority, the lead agency locally with responsibility for safeguarding, and with them conducted a joint visit to the nursery. "Following the visit, we required the nursery to ensure, amongst other things, that safeguarding policies were in place and procedures were properly followed. "We are sorry that investigation did not bring to light what was happening sooner and for any additional distress this may have caused those affected by Mr Wilson's actions." Wilson pleaded guilty in June to two charges of rape, 16 of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 25 of making indecent images and three of distributing images of children.