Latest Offenders Essex

Description

Arlanzo Sherwood was found guilty of child sexual offences and voyeurism following a nine-day trial at Basildon Crown Court.

The jury convicted the 46-year-old on two counts of assault of a girl by penetration, one count of sexual activity with a child and one count of voyeurism.

He was cleared on two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual activity with a child.

Essex Police’s Quest team, who investigate sexual offence reports where the victim was a child at the time of the offence but is now an adult, started making enquiries in July 2019 after receiving reports from a family friend of the survivor.

Following a two-and-a-half-year investigation, where Sherwood either refused to comment or denied the allegations, he was charged in October 2021.

In court the survivor, who is now in her 20s, told the jury about the abuse she had suffered at the hands of the defendant.

She had kept it a secret but told a friend and then her mum what had happened to her. Sherwood was confronted by her horrified mum, and the allegations were reported to police.

Jailed

On Thursday 26 June at the same court Sherwood, of Clayburn Circle, Basildon, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for both assault charges, which will run concurrently.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison for the sexual activity offence and 18 months in prison for voyeurism. These will run concurrently with the 11 years sentences.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and given a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

After the victim impact statement was read to the court HHJ Judge Richard Conley thanked the survivor for her bravery and noted the arduous trial.

He also acknowledged the “professionalism” “hard work” and “diligence” of Detective Constable Chris Sedgwick.

Investigating officer Det Con Chris Sedgwick said:

"I would firstly like to pay tribute to the survivor in this case.
"She has shown incredible fortitude and bravery throughout the investigation and the protracted court process.
"Not only did she come forward and tell someone what had happened to her but managed the process with incredible dignity.
"Sherwood committed heinous offences against a vulnerable child and is now rightly serving a long prison sentence.
"At Essex Police we will fully investigate all allegations reported to us and I hope this case helps encourage others who have suffered similar offences, recent or not, to come forward.
"You will be listened to; you will be supported and specially trained officers will be there throughout the process.
"We do not underestimate how difficult it is to come forward and I want to assure all survivors of abuse that we will do all we can to secure justice."

The survivor in this case added:

"Telling the right person has made all the difference to my life. I never thought I would tell anyone, but I have had incredible support.
"The independent sexual violence advisors were there throughout this horrendous time and I’m really grateful to them for their understanding and patience."

Description

A serially-convicted paedophile has lost an appeal against his latest prison sentence.

Former teacher Michael Costin, who molested a string of boys across two decades, insisted he received no sexual gratification from his crimes and only abused his victims for their own benefit.

The sex offender’s victims spoke out at a two-day sentencing hearing last July, describing the decades of torment they had suffered because of his abuse.

One aided police from beyond the grave, having died but left behind a letter detailing Costin’s crimes and their impact.

Costin, then 59, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court last year to 15 years in prison, after being convicted of 22 offences of indecent assault.

The crimes began in the 1980s, when he served as a young scout leader at St Augustine’s Church in Rush Green, Romford.

He continued abusing children in the 1990s in Sussex, where he worked as a teacher in Ipswich and volunteered as a scout leader in Kirton.

He performed sex acts on boys aged 11 to 15 and “encouraged some boys to engage in sexual activity with each other”.

Judge Alex Gordon described the crimes as “repeated, brazen, manipulative and abusive offending”.

One victim said Costin had created an environment where such offending was “normalised”.

The now 60-year-old paedophile, known to victims as Mick, was already serving an indeterminate prison sentence for public protection before the latest charges, having racked up a catalogue of prior child sex convictions.

He was first convicted of abusing scouts in Sussex in 1996 and jailed for two years.

After his release, he relocated to Abingdon in Oxfordshire where, in 2007, he began abusing a 13-year-old boy. Over time, the boy’s girlfriend was also introduced into the abuse. Costin plied them both with drugs and booze and molested them, a court later heard.

By the time he was brought to justice for his Abingdon crimes, Costin had returned to Romford and become chairman of Millwall Rugby Club on the Isle of Dogs, despite already being a convicted child molester.

When he was prosecuted for the Oxfordshire crimes, he also faced prosecution for molesting a 17-year-old boy in a vehicle outside the east London rugby club.

It was after these convictions that he received his indeterminate sentence.

Appealing against his latest sentence, Costin argued the lengthy investigation into the most recent charges had affected his prospects of parole from that existing indeterminate sentence.

He had been eligible for parole since 2015, if a parole board could be persuaded he was safe to release.

But after the new investigation began in 2017, he was “returned to closed conditions” in prison, which “blocked any progress as regards his release on temporary license or for a period of testing prior to release into the community”.

Barrister Sarah Morris said there were then “unjustified delays” in bringing Costin to trial.

But prosector Walton Hornsby countered that while the first complainant came forward in 2017, others followed in 2021 and 2022, with police ultimately investigating “a large number of offences”.

Three High Court judges – Lord Justice Fraser, Mr Justice Hilliard and Mr Justice Constable – upheld the 15-year sentence, saying Costin was at least partly to blame for the delays.

“The appellant did not admit some of the offences until a very late stage in the proceedings and continued to deny others,” they wrote.

“Had the appellant admitted the offending at the beginning of the investigative process, no doubt he would have been sentenced far earlier in time than he was.”

They added that while it was possible he might have received parole, that was “entirely hypothetical" and “speculation”.

Even if he had, they said, he would have been released “in ignorance of the true scale of [his] offending”, given he now has 22 further convictions for offences he had never admitted in custody, despite rehabilitation courses encouraging him to admit and express remorse for all his crimes.

Instead, he denied offences which jurors later convicted him of and “was still claiming he had not received sexual gratification for himself from the offending, but had been seeking to enable the victims to receive pleasure for themselves”.

“Had these factors been known about by the parole board… they would have been bound to have had a considerable impact upon the assessment of risk that he presented,” the judges wrote.

Description

A convicted sex offender who breached his restrictions to become administrator of an online paedophile ring has been sentenced.

Michael Hyde, 53, from Grays in Essex, was active on online chat forums where users shared indecent images and video of children and discussed child sexual abuse material.

NCA officers were alerted to the site by the FBI in the US, with intelligence that indicated users were utilising an encrypted platform to create and share livestreamed child sexual abuse images and videos.

Users of the site were either 'hunters', who would enter chatrooms and engage with children and share their targets, or 'cappers' who would groom child victims and covertly record sexual activity of them to share within the group.

Within the group, the organisers would set rules, add and remove users and discuss how they could best hide their crimes to avoid detection by law enforcement.

NCA officers worked with partners overseas to infiltrate the group to identify offenders in the UK and around the world.

Hyde was identified as a top moderator of the site and was involved in the vetting of other paedophiles wishing to enter the group.

Hyde was arrested at his home by NCA officers in May 2024. A small amount of cannabis and cocaine was also found at his address. He answered no comment to all questions at interview.

He was charged with a number of offences and appeared at Basildon Crown Court where he pleaded guilty.

Hyde was sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison at the same court today.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Daniel Waywell said: "Michael Hyde was already a convicted paedophile but continued his horrific crimes, using virtual private networks to hide his offending and work with other child sexual abusers on an online secure private group.

"Their depraved chat room discussed the best tactics to prey on their vulnerable child victims and how they could get away with their offending.

"Hyde was a high ranking and valued member in the online paedophile ring and is a significant threat to children.

"The NCA, working with international partners, will continue our work to pursue offenders who put children at risk."

Description

A fast-paced and complex investigation by specialist officers safeguarded a vulnerable child and ensured a dangerous offender is now behind bars.

At Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 29 May Chace Wiseman was sentenced to 10 years in prison for numerous child sexual offences.

On New Year’s Eve in 2024 Essex Police received a referral from the National Crime Agency.

Officers from our Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) made urgent enquiries, with one of the team tracking key evidence online which directly linked the Essex suspect to indecent images of children.

Further interrogation of the images and videos led the officers to believe the 18-year-old suspect was in fact the person carrying out the horrific abuse.

They arrested Wiseman at his Witham home on Friday 3 January and during a subsequent search of the address seven electronic devices were seized.

When one of his devices was accessed, officers discovered a large quantity of distressing videos and images which showed sexual assault and rape of a child.

This evidence was put to Wiseman during interview, but he remained silent and refused to answer any questions.

Following irrefutable evidence gathered by the investigative team the CPS authorised them to charge Wiseman with 12 offences.

Guilty pleas

When he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday 25 March, Wiseman, of Colne Chase, pleaded guilty to all 12 offences:

• 2 counts of rape of a child under the age of 13
• Assault of a child under the age of 13 by touching
• Assault a child under the age of 13 by penetration
• 3 counts of taking indecent photos of a child (6 x Cat A) (48 x Cat B) (75 x cat C)
• 3 counts of making indecent photographs of a child (44 x Cat A) (43 x Cat B) (93 x Cat C)
• Possession of prohibited images of a child (287 images)
• Possession of extreme pornography (20 images)

Sentenced

At the hearing he was sentenced to 16 and a half years extended sentence for the first two offences, to be served concurrently. Ten and half years to be served in custody with an extended licence period of six years.

For the further 10 offences he received custodial sentences ranging from three years to six weeks, all to run concurrently.

He was placed on the sex offenders register and is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a Restraining Order.

Description

Tyler, of Railway Street, Braintree, was arrested by officers in May last year after a woman reported an intimate photo of herself had been posted on an online forum without her knowledge or consent.

Detectives immediately launched an investigation, and their enquiries revealed several other women’s images, many manipulated or created using deep fake technology, had also been uploaded to the site.

Enquiries lead detectives to a specific user who had made 173 posts between March 2023 and May 2024. Many of the posts contained images which had been taken from the victims’ social media pages and then deep faked to make the women appear as though they were naked.

Other intimate images uploaded onto the site by the user were not deep faked, but had been shared without the owners’ knowledge or consent.

The user’s account was linked to Tyler and he was arrested. He made no comment during interview, but following the thorough investigation charges were authorised by the CPS.

Tyler was charged with 15 counts of sharing a photograph or film of a person in an intimate state for the purpose of sexual gratification and 18 counts of harassment without violence.

He pleaded guilty to all 33 charges when he previously appeared at Colchester Magistrates Court.

He sentenced him to a total of five years in prison, he was placed on the sex offenders' register and given an indefinite restraining order against his victims.

Description

Brown, 36, of Vernon Crescent, Brentwood, was arrested in October 2023. He remained silent throughout two police interviews.

He was initially charged with 15 offences, including sexual offences involving a child.

At court these were amended, and he was charged with:

• Two counts of meeting a child following sexual grooming
• Two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
• Sexual activity with a child
• Sexual assault
• Two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act
• Intentional strangulation
• Two counts of production of a Class B drug

extended licence due to dangerousness

On 13 January 2025 at Chelmsford Crown Court he admitted sexual activity with a child and two counts of cannabis production. The other charges were left to lie on file.

At the same court on Monday 10 March he was sentenced to five years in prison for sexual activity with a child. The judge ordered an extended licence of three years, due to his dangerousness.

For two production of a Class B drug charges he was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment for each, to run concurrently with each other, and consecutively with the first sentence.

He is also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, with conditions not to contact girls aged under 16 years.

Description

More than 110,000 indecent images of children were discovered on a rape suspect’s mobile phone following a thorough and complex investigation by our specialist officers.

On Tuesday 11 February Daniel Taylor was jailed for 20 years after admitting numerous serious sexual offences.

In April 2022 we received reports of rape and sexual assault involving two victims.

Forty-two year-old Taylor, of Outing Close, Southend, was arrested and questioned. He initially denied all the allegations put to him and refused to hand over the pin to his phone.

Tenacious officers used forensic techniques to access the phone and were able to download the contents after months of work.

overwhelming evidence

It was clear why Taylor did not want to allow access to his phone as officers discovered 110,718 indecent images (including Category A, B and C) and videos of children, alongside evidence linking him to the rape allegations.

He was charged with 15 offences including five counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, two counts of indecent assault, three counts of possession of indecent images of children, one count of making indecent images of children and one count of distributing indecent images of children.

He continued to deny the charges, but the overwhelming evidence left him with little option and when he appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Monday 2 September 2024 he admitted to 12 offences with one charge of rape and two charges of indecent assault left to lie on file.

And at the same court he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but will remain on licence for 24 years. He was also placed on the sex offender’s register for life and is subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.

Description

A man who spoke sexually online with a teenage girl that was actually an undercover police officer has been sent to prison for more than two years. Craig Butcher, 43, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down on him at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday (31 January).

Prosecutor Matthew Paul said Butcher used an online chatroom to talk to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl called Brooke but was actually an undercover cop. Judge Chris Morgan told Butcher he was satisfied that the offending “only came to an end because of your arrest”.

Butcher, who has no previous convictions and was supported in court by his fiancee, was said to have told ‘Brooke’ that his name was Simon and he was “there looking for actual sex rather than sexual chat”.

The court was told Butcher had messaged ‘Brooke’ daily between January 1 and March 12. It was also said that ‘Brooke’ had told Butcher they were a 14-year-old girl multiple times and that some conversations discussed oral sex, masturbation and sexual images.

On one occasion Butcher, of Moor Park Gardens in Leigh-on-Sea, sent a photograph of his erect penis concealed within a pair of shorts. He later told police that it was a sock when questioned about it.

The pair’s conversations paused before resuming with a suggestion that they would meet together in April. This brief plan was stopped by Butcher’s arrest by police officers.

It was said that Butcher had received a promotion at his former job and subsequently became stressed under the increased work hours and responsibilities. Butcher’s barrister, Cyrus Shroff, said the engaged offender “would be home alone, struggling mentally and crying on his way to work”. Mr Shroff added: “In those moments he began to reach out online to talk [to others] as an escape from life”.

The defence barrister told Judge Morgan there is “a realistic prospect of rehabilitation” for Butcher and suggested that a suspended sentence could be considered. But the Judge decided the public needed to be protected and sentenced him to 27 months of imprisonment for attempting to cause/incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and ten months for attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child. The sentences would run concurrently, resulting in a 27-month prison sentence alongside a ten-year Sexual Health Prevention Order and a ten-year notification status.

“I realise that this will have an effect on others who are entirely innocent and on you as it’s your first custodial sentence,” the Judge said. “But I have to balance that against the need to protect the public.”

“Whatever was going on, you simply desired to make contact with a child under the age of 16 in order to discuss and understand the prospect of having sex with them,” they added. “You know that what you were doing was against the law. You were making arrangements and asking if the child would meet you.

“You agreed to meet although no formal arrangements were in place. Had you not been arrested it’s plain to me that these arrangements would have been put in place.”

Butcher will serve half of his sentence in custody and the remainder on licence.

Description

A 36-year-old man from Essex has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with an extended licence period of four years for sexual offences against boys.

Darren Hornsby, of Spring Road in Clacton-on-Sea, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court last Thursday, 5 December 2024. He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for life and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Investigating in Essex

An investigation against Hornsby was launched by Essex Police in 2019 following intelligence regarding online activity involving indecent images at an address he was residing at.

On 28 February 2019, a search warrant was carried out at the premises. A number of electronic devices belonging to Hornsby were seized and found to contain indecent images of children:

• 68 category A images and 26 videos
• 172 category B images and 41 videos
• 250 category C images and 4 videos

A video was identified by Essex Police of a male child aged between five and seven years being sexually abused; only the hands of the abuser could be seen.

The OIC, Detective Constable Emma Edwards, suspected the abuser in this video was Hornsby. Due to this officers enlisted the help of a forensic hand expert, Dame Professor Sue Black, who carried out a comparison.

On 14 April 2021, Hornsby was charged with six counts of making indecent images of children, one count of taking indecent images of a child and one count of sexual assault with penetration of a boy under the age of 13.

Hornsby pleaded guilty to the six counts of making indecent images of children, however denied taking an indecent image of a child and the sexual assault.

Dame Professor Sue Black gave her evidence in court which assisted the jury to guilty pleas on both counts in less than an hour, heard in November 2024.

Offences in Suffolk

On 4 June 2023 a report was made to Suffolk Constabulary relating to sexual assaults on boys at an address in Trimley St Martin.

These offences took place on 1 and 2 June 2023 and involved two boys in their early teens.

Enquiries established that Hornsby had befriended the boys several months before and had invited them to the address in Trimley.

Hornsby was arrested, charged and remanded in relation to the sexual offences. He initially denied these but pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault on a male and two counts of inciting a boy aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity without consent, on the second day of trial.

Hornsby was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for the offences in Essex and six years’ imprisonment for the offences in Suffolk. These are to be served consecutively, bringing his total jail term to 15 years, as well as four years on extended licence.

Description

A MANIPULATIVE sex offender who abused a child has been jailed for 15 years as his victim thanked police for securing the justice she deserved.

Jan Vanderweiden, 60, appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Thursday to be sentenced in connection with five counts of sexual activity with a child.

He was jailed for 15 years and sentenced to five years on extended licence. 

The sexual abuser, of no fixed address in the Castle Point district, had admitted his crimes, which were reported to Essex Police in 2022. 

His victim has thanked officers who “helped and assisted with the case” and “have been nothing but supportive over the past two years”.

She said: “I would like to say to anybody out there who sadly may be experiencing or experienced a similar thing to please trust our police and all the services they provide; I can hand on heart say they did everything to get me the justice I deserved. 

“I am finally able to put this part of my life behind me, though it will be with me forever I can now look forward and create an amazing life for me and the people I care about the most.”

For the first count of sexual activity with a child, Vanderweiden was sentenced to nine years in prison, with five years on extended licence. For the second, he was jailed for six years to run consecutively. For the other three, he was sentenced to five years on each, all to run concurrently with the other sentences.

He was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and a deprivation order was made in respect of his mobile phone.

Following the complex two-year investigation Detective Constable Georgina Stroud said: “Vanderwieden is a manipulative sexual offender, and the sentence reflects this.

“The survivor has shown nothing but strength and resilience throughout this difficult process. As the judge correctly mentioned in her sentencing summary, the survivor is a remarkable woman. 

“I hope the survivor’s words encourage others to come forward. 

“We will listen to you and do what we can to ensure you receive the justice you deserve.” 

The survivor paid specific tribute to Det Con Stroud, adding: “I am forever grateful to you all at Essex Police, especially Georgina Stroud, you have been nothing but supportive for the last two years.”

Description

A SEX offender who attacked a woman while wearing a balaclava has been jailed after investigators traced blood left on the victim's clothes back to him.

The victim was at the waterfront near London Road in Purfleet when she turned and saw a man, now known to be 31-year-old Marian Canuci, running towards her wearing a balaclava before grabbing her and assaulting her.

What he did not see was the victim calling emergency services on her phone before members of the public heard the incident and he fled the scene of the incident on August 24.

She, and multiple witnesses, provided police with accounts, including a detailed description of Canuci, and forensic investigators were able to trace blood left on the victim’s clothing back to him.

After six days of investigation Canuci, of Saladin Drive in Purfleet, was arrested and later charged with assault by penetration and sexual assault.

He admitted both charges on October 2, and returned to Basildon Crown Court last Wednesday where he was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for the assault by penetration.

He was also sentenced to two years and 10 months in prion for sexual assault, running concurrently.

Description

A former teacher and choirmaster, who is also a musician and had worked on TV and film projects, has been jailed for 12 years for child sex offences.

The offences concern 19 victims and span more than 40 years.

David Pickthall was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2015 for his services to education and charity, and had worked on a number of TV and film projects.

A since-deleted online biography detailing his career achievements noted that he was the "musical voice" of villainous penguin Feathers McGraw in the 1993 short film Wallace And Gromit: The Wrong Trousers.

The 66-year-old, of Ingrave Road, Brentwood, Essex, also worked on the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later and with a number of philharmonic orchestras.

Judge Mary Loram KC, sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court, told Pickthall: "You are without a shadow of a doubt a predatory and manipulative paedophile who has adapted his offending over the years."

She added: "If you hadn't been arrested you would have carried on."

The judge sentenced Pickthall to 12 years in prison, with a four-year extended licence period, and also made him subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

The defendant, who glared at the judge during sentencing, slowly put his jacket on afterwards before he was led to the cells.

He had admitted at an earlier hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court to 29 child sex offences concerning 19 people and spanning more than 40 years.

The crimes were committed between 1980 and 2021 in Brentwood in Essex and Upminster in east London.

Description

An Essex man who made payments to live stream and direct the sexual abuse of children in the Philippines has been jailed for 15 years.

Cesar Cordero Conejo, 39, from Ilford, was investigated by National Crime Agency officers, after being identified by international law enforcement agencies as a UK-based offender obtaining child sexual abuse material and livestreamed child sexual abuse from a Filipino woman.

Information regarding Conejo, from between September 2022 and February 2023, was provided to the UK. This included a number of message exchanges between him and the woman, which were provided by Homeland Security in the US.

In one message, she told Conejo that she is giving birth but doesn't have money to go to hospital, to which he replies: "well good luck ok, hope you have another girl." Later in the chat he asked her to get the children to carry out sex acts on each other.

In further messages, Conejo indicated that he wanted to travel to the Philippines to rape one of the children himself, saying that he'd pay the woman 100 dollars a day in return.

NCA investigators arrested Conejo in July 2023 and conducted searches of his home, seizing a number of devices, including a laptop and phone. Forensic examination of the devices revealed they contained in excess of 12,500 indecent images of children, including 4,706 in the most severe category A.

Further chat records between him and various Filipino women dating back six years were also identified. One message stated: "Do you have PayPal darling. I wanted to see your daughter today."

Financial enquiries showed that he had sent a number of Filipino women a total of £1,300 over the course of six years. At least sixteen of these payments were linked to one woman who abused children known to her, for financial gain.

A number of child victims were rescued and safeguarded in the Philippines, including three in relation to this case.

These three children would have been aged between five and thirteen at the time of the offending. The imagery obtained from the Filipino woman included category A images (the most severe) involving penetration with a number of objects, and oral rape. The youngest rape victim was only 2-3 years old and was directed to perform sexual acts with others.

In custody, he was charged with causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 13. He was later charged with further counts of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, offences relating to making indecent images of children, possessing indecent images of children and possessing an extreme pornographic image.

He pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 4 January and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment at the same court today (17 October). He will also become a Registered Sex Offender for life and was given a 20-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

NCA Operations Manager Jen Cruickshank said: "This was a horrific case which is shocking on so many levels.

"Not only did Conejo orchestrate the most depraved abuse imaginable on vulnerable children, purely for his own sexual pleasure, he displayed his intentions to travel to the Philippines to carry out these attacks personally.

"He is a dangerous, high harm offender who posed a significant risk to children.

"The fact they were on the other side of the world probably hadn't escaped his attention, and no doubt made him think he'd avoid detection.

"However, the NCA has the capabilities and international reach to ensure that offenders like Conejo don't escape justice."

Description

A BASILDON man, who has been described as a "monster," has been jailed for sexually assaulting a child multiple times.

Harrison Hawkins, 37, of Kings Road, Steeple View, Basildon, was sentenced to a total of four years and six months in prison.

At the same court in May, Hawkins admitted three counts of sexual assault on a child under 13, two counts of taking indecent images of a child, and one count of possession of extreme pornographic material.

Officers launched an investigation in June 2020 after receiving reports of indecent images of a child on Hawkins' phone.

Then, allegations of sexual abuse were put to Hawkins in November 2021 after the victim bravely told officers from our Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) about further incidents.

Hawkins was interviewed about these allegations and replied "no comment" when questioned.

He was subsequently charged and pleaded not guilty to all charges but changed his plea to guilty midway through the trial.

Today he was sentenced to four years and six months behind bars for sexual assault of a child and 24 months behind bars for two further counts of sexual assault on a child.

He was also jailed for nine months for each count of taking indecent images of a child and three months for possession of an extreme pornographic image.

All the sentences will run concurrently.

Hawkins was also given a 10-year restraining order and a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The court ordered forfeiture and destruction of devices connected to the images and to pay a victim surcharge of £120.

He has been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Det Con Ian Burgess, who led the investigation, said: “Today’s sentence reflects the gravity of Hawkins’ offending.

“I want to pay tribute to the victim and her family who has been through an awful ordeal. They have displayed immense courage and dignity throughout.

“I hope today’s result brings some closure for them.”

A mum, who remains anonymous, has praised the police after her daughter's abuser was jailed.

She added: “We have been believed and I would say to anyone else who finds themselves in this position to go to the police and report it. You will be listened to and treated with respect.

“It feels like a black cloud has been lifted from over our heads and we can start to rebuild our lives.

“He was like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He appeared charming, friendly, and seemed so shy.

“But I know it was all an act and he is, in fact, a monster.

“We have got a life ahead of us and that is thanks to the justice Essex Police helped us achieve.

“The officer is our hero. I’m so thankful to him. He saved our lives.”

Description

A 53-year-old man has been jailed for nine years and six months after he was convicted of sexual offences against five victims.

Sean Richmond, of Hillyfields in Loughton, Essex, pleaded guilty to 14 offences included attempted rape.

He was first arrested in 2015 after reports he had sexually assaulted two victims between 1985 and 1991. Following his arrest, three more victims contacted Essex Police to report that they had been sexually abused by Richmond over 30 years ago.

Richmond was jailed on Wednesday at Chelmsford Crown Court and after the sentencing Det Con Matthew D Edson, said: "Richmond is no doubt a danger and he has spent decades thinking he could get away with abusing children."

The trial began at Chelmsford Crown Court on 28 May and Richmond entered a guilty plea to 14 offences on the second day of the trial.

He was convicted of 10 counts of indecent assault, three counts of indecency with a child and one count of attempted rape.

Alongside his sentence, he has made subject to an indefinite restraining order and will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.