Latest Offenders Chichester

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An NHS worker who travelled to Southampton to have sex with a teenage boy fainted when he was met by police, a court heard.

Robin Hains was arrested during a police sting in Shirley.

The 47-year-old had travelled along the south coast, from Bognor Regis, in the hope of abusing a 13-year-old.

According to police, he used an online messaging platform to brag about his plans to another man in March last year.

Appearing at Southampton Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and making indecent images of children.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Colin Haynes, of SEROCU, said: “Hains travelled a significant distance expecting to carry out sexual abuse against a child.

“Upon meeting police officers instead of the child, he had travelled expecting to see for sexual activity to take place, Hains fainted, demonstrating how shocked he was to have been ‘found out’ for his offending.

“Through his professional life, he would have been aware of what constitutes an offence of this nature and will now have time in prison to reflect upon this.

“SEROCU officers continue to work tirelessly to protect children and to bring those who commit offences against them before the courts to be held accountable for their actions.”

Hains, who worked at the urology department of University Hospitals Sussex, was jailed for three years and two months.

The defendant, of St Mary’s Close, Lavant, Chichester, must register as a sex offender for ten years and has been made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for the same time.

Anyone concerned about their thoughts or behaviour towards children or those of someone else can seek help and support via the Stop it Now! helpline on 0808 1000 900.

Further support is available from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

Victims of sexual offences or anyone who has information about them should contact police by calling the non-emergency number 101 or 999 in an emergency.

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Calculating predator Robin Elms, 23, of Hunston, Chichester, was sentenced to 20 years and six months at Portsmouth Crown Court after inflicting sexual assaults on nine children who were also spied on and video recorded.

The 20 offences between 2018 and 2020 were carried out on children aged two to 14 in five households after he secured employment via ‘reputable’ online childcare agencies.

Seven of the children, in three households, were from West Sussex and two of the children, in two households, were from east Kent.

Elms, of previous good character, had worked in other non-residential child care settings, but there was no evidence of offences against other children.

In sentencing Elms, judge Lance Ashworth said: ‘You groomed the families, moving from home to home, beguiling them and making them feel sorry for you.’

Detective Constable Chris Smith of Sussex Police said: ‘Elms used his access, and the trust placed in him by the parents, to systematically abuse children in their own homes.

‘His offences were horrendous breaches of trust, which are every parent's greatest concern. He had no previous convictions or any other DBS-related record, and the parents all had found him through reputable child care agencies.’

The child abuser pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault, five counts of taking indecent videos of children, and four counts of voyeurism and one count of sexually assaulting an adult man - not related to his work as a nanny or babysitter.

Elms will spend 15 and a half years of the sentence in prison and five years on extended prison licence supervision.

He will be a registered sex offender for life and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to last until further court notice.

The prosecution followed an investigation by detectives from the Complex Abuse Unit of Sussex Police which began when one of the families in West Sussex contacted police in November 2020 reporting sexual abuse.

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A man who sexually assaulted young children and was actively seeking opportunities to offend again has been convicted of 14 counts of child sexual abuse after a National Crime Agency investigation.

Keats Harvey, a 24-year-old American national, groomed and sexually assaulted four children, the youngest of whom was a toddler.

He was arrested by NCA officers at his home in West Wittering, Chichester, in May 2020.

Harvey had a catalogue of almost 9,000 indecent images of children and 630 prohibited images on his electronic devices, which he had collated between 2015-2020. Of those were 860 category A images (the most severe), 1,290 category B and 6,984 category C.

The NCA uncovered a large number of chat logs and emails in which he had sent and received these images from other likeminded individuals, as well as admitting to having molested three young children.

Investigators subsequently identified four children who had been abused by Harvey, all of whom were under ten-years-old and have since been safeguarded.

He met his victims through other adults he knew and assaulted one of the children whilst at a party.

Harvey made multiple further attempts to meet and abuse children by befriending vulnerable adults with kids and applying for jobs at places where we knew he would have access to children, including hospitals and nurseries.

Through their investigation into Harvey, NCA officers identified another American national they suspected had sexually abused an eleven-year-old boy.

Intelligence was shared with US authorities based in Seattle and the man, a teacher, was arrested and the child safeguarded.

Yesterday (29/07/2021) at Hove Crown Court Harvey was found guilty of six counts of possessing indecent images of children (categories A-C), two counts of possessing prohibited images, two counts of taking and one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, two counts of assaulting a child under 13 by touching, and meeting a girl under 16 following grooming.

He will be sentenced at the same court on 8 October 2021.

Peter Stevens, Branch Commander at the NCA, said: “Keats Harvey was conducting very serious offending, not just online but by physically abusing young children.

“On top of this, he was actively trying to befriend adults who had children and had researched jobs on the internet, at hospitals and nurseries, all with the aim of gaining access to children.

“In my view he is an offender whose behaviour was escalating in terms of the severity of the offending he was trying to commit.

“Prosecuting individuals like Harvey who pose a sexual risk to children is a priority for the NCA. My team worked tirelessly, with support from the Crown Prosecution Service, analysing reams of particularly disturbing material to build the case against him and ensure he would face justice.

“We also worked closely with policing partners to identify offenders and safeguard victims. In this case, Sussex and Hampshire Police provided significant support to the investigation.”

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A menacing would-be rapist from Selsey who cornered a schoolgirl in an alleyway has been jailed for seven years.

Ewing Gilmour, 21, of Sparshott Road, Selsey, approached the teenage girl in Selsey offering her 100 for sex.
When she rejected his offer he stalked her and laid in wait to intercept the youngster.

At Portsmouth Crown Court prosecutor Paul Fairley said Gilmour followed the girl, overtaking her in an alleyway between Manor Road and Manor Lane in Selsey on May 29 last year.

She said no, no, no as she realised Gilmour was about to pounce.
Gilmour, who exposed himself, then grabbed her hair when he failed to pull down her trousers.

He threatened to punch her in the face as she fought wildly to escape his clutches, falling over in the process, the court heard.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, finally escaped and ran to a nearby home.

Jailing Gilmour for seven years with an extended three-year term, judge William Ashworth said: It was a brazen and determined attempt to rape a vulnerable victim.
He added: You stalked her and cornered her and attacked her.

A sexual harm prevention order bans him from contacting children for life and he must sign the sex offenders register for life.

At trial, Gilmour claimed he had been looking over fences to steal items and that is why the girl was able to identify his underwear as his trousers fell down exposing his FCUK underwear.

Jurors convicted Gilmour of attempted rape on November 19.
The court heard he is a failed Army recruit who was medically discharged.

The Parole Board will have you consider when to release Gilmour, and only when he has served at least two thirds of the seven-year term.
The three-year extended term will be served on licence.

As he was led to the cells Gilmour turned to supporters in the public gallery and blew a kiss toward them.
Investigating officer Steve Holden said: This was an attempt at a serious sexual assault and it was due to the bravery of the victim at the time, that prevented a worse outcome.

The victim has remained strong throughout the legal process, and I would like to thank her for that.
In addition, Id like to thank all the members of the public who provided CCTV and other information at the time and during our investigation.

With their support, a dangerous offender who has shown no remorse for his actions has been identified and imprisoned.

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A PERVERT jailed for preying on young boys while he was a teacher in the Kidderminster area has been sentenced for further offences.

Jonathan O'Brien, 61, spent more than a decade grooming young boys while he taught at Winterfold House School as well as schools in West Sussex and Oxfordshire during the 1980s and 1990s.

Twisted O'Brien was already serving time for sexual offences against young boys when he was convicted for the second time last month.

It took the victim more than 20 years to report the traumatic events which happened while he was a teenage student and O'Brien was a teacher at Seaford College, Petworth in West Sussex in 1992.

It was revealed just a handful of years earlier O'Brien indecently assaulted male students up to 170 miles away in Worcestershire and Oxfordshire.

In 2014, O'Brien was found guilty of sexually abusing pupils in his care during the 1980s - including five charges of gross indecency and 15 counts of indecent assault, all of which he had denied and he was cleared of two further indecent assaults.

Twelve of the offences were committed against seven boys at Winterfold House School - where he taught subjects including sports and photography - between 1980 and 1985 and the others were committed against three pupils at The Oratory School, near Reading, between 1985 and 1989.

Police Constable Yvonne Daddow said the former teacher pretended to have an interest in computers to groom the young boy, who kept the distressing experiences to himself.

She said: "This offending came to light when the victim contacted us for the first time in 2017.

"Having courageously come forward he supported our investigation and was ready to give evidence in court if necessary.

"It became clear that O'Brien had used an allegedly mutual interest in computers to in effect gradually 'groom' the boy into sexual activity, in O'Brien's study at the school and his home in Oxfordshire.

"The boy kept the distressing experiences to himself for more than 20 years until an chance family discussion to some media coverage on the general subject of sexual offending triggered him into coming forward.

"This case is another example of the way in which we will always take such reports seriously, no matter how long ago they relate to, and will seek to help achieve justice for victims wherever possible."

It was added that Seaford College has cooperated with the investigation by West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit and the indecent assaults are unconnected with current or recent management of the school and it's pupils.

O'Brien pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court on May 24.

The former teacher, from Bosham, West Sussex, denied two further counts of indecent assault on the same boy, which will lay on the court file.

He was handed two and-a-half years to run concurrently to a previous sentence relating to sexual assaults against boys in Kidderminster and Oxfordshire.

He was sentenced to 13 years at Chichester Crown Court in 2014 for the vile attacks which happened between 1980 and 1989.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and handed a Sexual Offence Prevention Order (SOPO) which severely restricts his contact with any children.