Latest Offenders East Sussex

Description

A sex offender who tried to befriend a single mother on Facebook and distributed indecent images of children has been jailed for five years.

Simon Gary Rose, from Bexhill, East Sussex, was already on the sex offenders register after previously making indecent images of children.

Police believe he contacted the woman through the social networking site to groom her young boys for abuse.

Hove Crown Court heard he was previously convicted in Essex in 2008.

Sussex Police's paedophile online investigation team began investigating Rose, formerly of Parkhurst Road, after it received a tip-off he was offending online again.

Despite attending a sex offenders treatment course as part of his previous sentence, he was found to be using internet cafes in Brighton and Hastings to distribute images of child sex abuse.

After he was arrested in September 2011, police were contacted separately by the single mother who had become concerned about a man who had used Facebook to contact her to try to develop a relationship.

'Very young children'

Police linked this approach to Rose, though there is no evidence to suggest he committed any contact offences against children.

Rose pleaded guilty to 20 offences of distributing and possessing indecent images of children.

He had also admitted three further counts of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and failing to comply with the notification requirements as a registered sex offender.

On his release he will now be under an indefinite Sexual Offence Prevention Order and will be a registered sex offender for life.

Det Con Jane Tunnicliff said:

"Rose was still using the internet to distribute indecent images of very young children, mainly young boys, even after being sentenced for a similar offence.

"Every image is of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

"It was of even more concern that he was seeking to develop an online relationship with a woman who had young children and we have no doubt that part of his motivation was to groom very young boys for sexual activity.

"We are very glad that the woman came forward. She was very quickly informed about Rose and was assured that action was being taken to ensure that he posed no further threat."

Description

A convicted sex offender who groped a 16-year-old schoolgirl on the seafront has been warned he faces a jail sentence. Darren Hellowell, 29, fondled the teenager on the beach next to Eastbourne Pier after asking her for a cigarette lighter. Lewes Crown Court heard how the stranger groped the girl and then made suggestive comments to her. Friends of the girl ordered the pervert to leave but he carried on the drunken attack. Police nearby arrested Hellowell who told police in interview he had little memory of the assault. In a Victim Impact Statement, the girl told officers: "When he first approached me he made me feel on edge as I didn't know him. "When he went to touch my legs I felt scared and afterwards I felt shocked and upset by the incident." Prosecutor Simon Allen told the court the attack happened at about 11.30pm on September 1 last year. He said: "A 16-year-old girl was enjoying an evening out with some friends in Eastbourne. Firstly they were at the Western Lawns, at about 8.30pm. "Later on, at about 11.30pm, they moved towards the Pier and were sat on the beach. The defendant comes over and initially says, 'Have you got a lighter?' "The victim said she had not then the defendant put his right hand on her left leg just above her knee and slid his hands up. "She was sitting with her knees up and moved her legs, saying, 'Get off me'. She was shocked and felt scared. Her friends saw what happened and told him to clear off." Mr Allen said Hellowell then leant forward and put his hand in the same place. She then pushed him away but he was sexually suggestive towards her. Mr Allen went on: "She replied, 'Don't even look at me'. "Police must have been nearby because his arrest happened within a few minutes." The court heard that Hellowell was put on the Sex Offenders Register for five years in 2005 for grabbing the private parts of a woman in Kent. But he failed to notify police of his whereabouts within three days of being released from custody. Hellowell, of no fixed abode, admitted sexual assault and failing to comply with the requirements of the Sex Offenders Register. Defending, Daniel Frier offered no mitigation as Recorder Richard Benson, QC, adjourned sentencing until February 15 to assess how dangerous Hellowell is. He told him: "I want to make it perfectly clear that all sentencing options are available. "Because this is your second sexual offence the law requires the court to consider whether you pose a significant risk of serious harm to the public." Hellowell was remanded in custody as funding is considered for a place at Avenida Lodge in Upper Avenue which helps people with alcohol problems. Recorder Benson added: "Even if there is funding available it doesn't necessarily mean he would not receive some form of custodial sentence."

Description

A paedophile teacher due to be extradited to the Netherlands for importing child pornography has committed suicide.

Keith Hudson, 54, was due to fly to serve five months in a Dutch prison but did not turn up to Heathrow Airport.

Hudson, who ran private tuition company Sussex Learning Centre, had been granted bail on stringent conditions including the payment of a £10,000 security to City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London.

A hearing to order the forfeiture of the money was arranged for today.

But Amelia Nice, for the Dutch authorities, told the court: "He failed to report to Heathrow. It has since been brought to our attention that apparently he has died.

"Apparently he committed suicide."

Hudson, of Willowmead, Crowborough, has previous convictions in the UK for similar offences, had signed on as a sex offender for four years and been banned from working with boys.

He was found guilty of five counts of moving and concealing indecent material at Croydon Crown Court, following an operation by Dover customs officers in 1998.

A Care Standards Tribunal had heard he was not a risk to girls and limited the court's earlier ban on teaching all children.

Education bosses at East Sussex County Council issued a warning to all schools in the area after the discovery that he was touting for business.

Then in 2002 he was found guilty of importing and stocking indecent images of boys in the Netherlands between April and December 1999.

However he was not in court for his sentence and a bid for his extradition from this country was later launched.

The disgraced tutor was arrested by Sussex and Met detectives at his home last month.

He lost his fight against his return and a Westminster judge ordered his extradition on December 27 last year.

Hudson was trusted to turn up to Heathrow on January 11 on stringent bail conditions including residence at his home address, daily reporting to police, and to have no contact with any person under 18.

On hearing the report of his death District Judge Quentin Purdy said he required confirmation from a police officer and adjourned the hearing to February 6.

The judge said if he has died the £10,000 would be returned.