Latest Offenders Essex

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A "predator" who forced a 16-year-old to the ground and attacked her while she was walking home has been jailed.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been in a bar in Rayleigh on the night of January 5 when she got in to a conversation with 20 year-old Bradley Boyd.

During the evening Boyd had made advances towards the victim which she rebuffed.

She left the bar at around 3am with her friends, before leaving them and walking with Boyd along Eastwood Road at the junction of High Street where the victim told Boyd she would make the rest of the journey home on her own.

Shortly after they parted, she began walking down an alleyway near to M&S when a man approached her from behind, forced her to the ground, and assaulted her.

He ran off when her phone rang.

The victim identified her attacker as wearing the same distinctive black Adidas jacket that Boyd was wearing and had the same build.

Boyd, of Woodside Avenue, Benfleet, was arrested at 7.25am on Saturday, January 6, and charged with assault be penetration.

Following a six day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, he was found not guilty of assault by penetration but guilty of actual bodily harm on Monday, July 9.

He has been sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Leon Pezzuolo said: “Bradley Boyd assault on the victim was sexually motivated and his advances had been rebuffed by her several times during the evening.

“He had been told to leave her alone several times but refused to, attacking her as she went home.

“His actions were totally unacceptable and he acted in a predatory fashion.

“This was a very serious case which was emphasised by the fact the judge went beyond the guidelines when considering Boyd’s sentence.”

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A man jailed for abusing boys in Britain was hired by a Paris school

A paedophile teacher who worked at English private schools before he was jailed found work at a new school after his release and immediately started preying on a young boy again.

Julien Bertrand, 37, from Nanterre in western Paris but educated in England, was sentenced to six years in prison in 2006 after he was found guilty of sex offences against two boys aged 14 and 16 who were pupils at schools in Essex and Somerset between 2000 and 2005.

The boys were subjected to prolonged emotional blackmail by Bertrand, who threatened to kill himself unless they fulfilled his ultimate desire. He pretended to load a gun to force one of the boys to have sex with him, and showered one victim with gifts worth up to 5,000.

However, The Sunday Times can reveal that Bertrand simply moved to France after being released from prison, found work as a music teacher and once again preyed on a boy he taught.

In 2011, after leaving prison, Bertrand who is on the UK sex offenders register and is barred from working with children got a job as a teacher at the exclusive Victor Hugo School, one of the best-known international schools in Paris with fees of up to 24,000 (21,100) a year.

He began grooming a 14-year-old boy, sending him explicit texts including many that said I love you. The boys father complained to the school, which dismissed Bertrand in 2013.

Yet in 2014 he had jointly set up a private school called Kingsworth International, also in Paris, where he is also a shareholder and became a deputy head.

Asked why Bertrand had been employed despite his conviction, Kingsworths head teacher, Stephen Jankowski, said the paedophile had lied about his past. Parents at the school, which is for pupils aged 3-18 and include many British families, were sent a letter saying the school had discovered Bertrands UK criminal record and dismissed him, but no details were given. Bertrand left the school last month.

Jankowski said Bertrand had passed the required background checks, adding that the welfare of the children is the schools priority and that it acted immediately when it learnt of his previous conviction.

Sonia Notarianni, an American mother involved in the parent teachers association at Kingsworth primary school, said: We were told there were parents who were very upset and have left the school because of this, but that was because he was apparently an amazing teacher. We [wrongly] understood that as a young man of 24 he had an affair with a 16-year-old girl or something.

They have no checks on parents volunteering in the school or anything. When I volunteered to help out at my childrens old school in Florida, I had to have a full background search.

Victor Hugo Schools president, Bernard DeleSalle, said he was horrified to discover a devil at his institution, and accused Bertrand of having tricked them. He said: To discover a devil in the middle of angels is not easy, especially

when he is well disguised. We are not infallible. Thank God, Bertrand is the only devil we have met.

If he had gone into another school we would have found out and . . . ruined his plans, but because he created his own structure in direct competition to our establishment, we could not have publicly denigrated him without risking legal action. The school said it had been unaware he had spent time in England.

References to Bertrand on Kingsworths Facebook site, which included details of his involvement in a skiing trip this year, have been removed.

Frances education ministry acknowledged a problem with identifying paedophile teachers. A new law was put forward in 2016 to allow better communication between the justice and education departments, but it has not happened yet, it said.

Bertrand could not be contacted at the address given as his home on the Kingsworth shareholder register, and the school refused to pass on a request for comment. He is free to teach elsewhere.

The head of the Somerset school at which Bertrand abused a pupil said: As a citizen of this country as much as the head of a reasonably distinguished school, I find it extraordinary that the systems for safeguarding children do not appear to be joined up in a better way. It is very worrying indeed.

On request, the Home Office can conduct criminal record checks for those who have lived in Britain and want to work with children overseas.

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Paul Mountain, 26, was sentenced to five years and three months at the conclusion of his trial at Chelmsford Crown Court

A Great Baddow "menace" jailed for the rape of a 15-year-old girl and the sexual touching of a 14-year-old was on bail for grooming a vulnerable teen when he was arrested, a court heard.

Paul Mountain, 26, was sentenced to five years and three months at the conclusion of his trial at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday (February 27).

Mountain, formerly of Park View Crescent, was arrested by Essex Police after raping a girl, on June 1, 2013 and sexually touching another girl on three occasions between July and September 2013.

Neither victims can be named for legal reasons.

Mountain was found guilty by a majority jury for rape, and unanimously on the three counts of touching, which the jury found to have a sexual element.

Prosecutor Emma Nash spoke of the rape victim's particular vulnerabilities, and claimed that Mountain was well aware of them.

The court heard that Mountain, who has ADHD and is on anti-depressants, was on bail for another sex crime at the time of his arrest and has only recently completed a custodial sentence for grooming and sexually abusing another 14-year-old girl.

Defence counsel Jacqueline Carey said: "Mr Mountain is actually extremely vulnerable himself. He gets on better with young people than with people his own age.

"He cuts a rather forlorn character. He hoped for a career in biking. There's a concern for his well-being in custody. He's not been placed on a sexual offences course or rehabilitated.

"He's someone with not a positive outlook but he does have the support of his mum and step-dad."

Sentencing Mountain for rape, Judge Emma Peters said: "You were a grownup and she was a child. As well as that, she was a vulnerable child.

"It is clear you are in a category of low intelligence, and have a number of psychological problems. It is also clear you are a man with vulnerabilities, but at times you are manipulative when you want to get your own way.

"You took her for a walk, you knew what you were doing. When you sat opposite her you produced a condom and said 'let's have sex'.

"She didn't want to have sex, she told you she didn't want to do that. She is more damaged now than she was before she met you."

Commenting on the sexual touching charges, Judge Peters added: "You came into contact through friends. At no point did she ever tell you she wanted more from you than to be a friend.

"To find herself receiving unwanted attention would be very upsetting for her."

A sexual harm prevention order was already in place against Mountain, who will remain on the sex offender's register for life.

"You have been a menace to young girls, young girls whose innocence you have taken away. I very much hope that you will be rehabilitated so that when when you're released you can start to associate with women of an appropriate age," said Judge Peters.

"If you keep coming back to young girls, it will come back to you. For the rest of your days you will have to register with the police. Young girls will be safe from you."

Commenting on the fact the case took more than three years to reach trial, she said: "I make no criticism of Essex Police. But this particular team in this particular case took far too long. You should have come to court much earlier."

Mountain was sentenced to four years and nine months for rape, and six months for each count of sexual touching, to run consecutively to each other, but concurrently to the rape sentence.

He will serve 31 months in custody before being released on licence.

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Convicted sex offender Manfredi was sentenced to two years in prison after he admitted he was intending to download child abuse images of young girls.

Manfredi, 30, who was staying at a hostel in Chelmsford, was sentenced on August 30 at Chelmsford Crown Court following three breaches of a sexual harm prevention order.

He had been previously convicted for downloading 665 indecent images of children in October, 2016 after police discovered Manfredi searched for websites containing pre-teen pornography.

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A MAN has been jailed for 11 years eight months for sex offences which happened between 1998 and 2003.

Keith Noble, 53, of Flint Street, Grays, appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Monday, October 24, where he pleaded guilty to three offences of indecent assault.

He previously admitted offences of attempted rape and indecent assault back in June. The offences involved two female victims who were juveniles when they were committed.

Officers initially arrested Noble in 2002 following an allegation of a sexual offence, however following a full investigation there was insufficient evidence to proceed and no charges were brought.

In October 2014 an allegation was made that Noble had accessed indecent images of children.

He was arrested and released on bail while investigations continued before being charged with 14 offences which he admitted at his first court appearance in October 2015.

These were offences of making indecent images of children, possession of extreme pornographic images, distribution of indecent images and recording a person doing a private act.

During the course of the investigation officers discovered evidence of covert filming and distribution of the images.

The victim was identified and later disclosed other offences for which Noble was responsible.

As a result of this disclosure officers contacted the victim who made the allegations in 2002 who agreed to speak to officers again.

On February 5, 2016, Noble was charged with attempted rape, and four counts of indecent assault.

At the hearing on Monday, October 24, he was jailed for all 19 offences and given a 12 month licence period to be served upon release.

Pc James Smith from Harlow CID said: "I am pleased Noble has admitted he is guilty to all of the charges brought against him and that the victim who contacted us in 2002 has finally been able to see justice done for the offences he committed against her.

"This case shows that matters are never closed and where new evidence comes to light officers will seek to ensure wherever possible charges are brought and perpetrators of sex offences are held accountable for the abuse they have carried out.

"I would encourage anyone who has been the victim of a sex offence, however long ago it happened, and who has not reported it to police to have the faith and confidence to do so.

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A TEACHER who admitted inciting sexual activity with children using fake social media accounts has been jailed.

Cory Baptiste, 24, previously of Fanns Rise in Purfleet, was sentenced to four years imprisonment for sexual offences, but this was reduced to two years eight months due to an early guilty plea.

He admitted five offences of abuse of a position of trust: one of causing or inciting sexual activity with a boy aged 13-17, one of causing or inciting sexual activity with a girl aged 13-17, one of causing a child under 13 to watch a sexual act and two of causing a child aged 13-17 to watch a sexual act.

He also admitted failing to appear in court on August 12.

He absconded to Spain but was apprehended in Barcelona on Thursday, October 6 following a Spanish National Police led operation supported by the National Crime Agency and Essex Police.

Baptiste, a former teacher at the Ockendon Academy, in Erriff Drive, South Ockendon, was given a further four months imprisonment for failing to answer his bail, making the total sentence three years.Baptiste was arrested on Tuesday, January 6, this year.

Essex Police’s Online Investigation Team launched an enquiry following a referral from the National Crime Agency.

He used fake social media accounts including Facebook and Snapchat in the names of Daniel Jenkins, Danielle Mason and Dan Bounce Jenny to commit the offences.

Investigating Officer Dc Adam Stallard said: "Baptiste was in a position of trust as a teacher and he abused that.

"He also tried to escape the justice system by not meeting his bail and going on the run to Spain. His victims have demonstrated bravery and dignity - Baptiste demonstrated cowardice in trying to evade facing up to his despicable crimes.

"I would like to thank The Ockendon Academy for their help during this investigation and the NCA and the Spanish authorities for their assistance in bringing this man to justice.”

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Reportedly in Ipswich, Suffolk IP2

A MAN has been jailed for seven years for historic sexual offences against a child.

Paul Lancaster (Paul Lawrence), 38, of Parkfields, Sible Hedingham, committed the crimes in Colchester between 2006 and 2009.

The victim was a girl who was between the ages of ten and 13 at the time of the offences.

Lancaster was charged with three counts of sexual touching of a child under 13, one count of sexual assault by penetration and four counts of sexual assault by touching a female between the ages of 13 and 15.

He denied the charges but was found guilty after a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Dc Jenna Daltrey, from the Child Abuse Investigation Team based in Colchester, said: I have worked on this case for the last 15 months and throughout this time the victim has acted with dignity, courage and honesty.

I am extremely proud of the way the victim conducted herself throughout the trial.

Paul Lancaster has shown no remorse or empathy towards the victim and he has now been found guilty of all 8 counts charged.

He will be on the sex offenders register for life and a sexual harm prevention order has been granted by the judge. Justice has been done.

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Lewis Daynes, 19, who lured 14-year-old he met online before murdering him, to serve minimum 25-year sentence

A teenager who groomed a 14-year-old boy over the internet before slashing his throat in a sexual and sadistic attack has been sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison.

Computer engineer Lewis Daynes, 19, admitted murdering Breck Bednar after luring him to his flat in Grays, Essex, on 17 February last year.

Breck told his parents he was sleeping at a friends house near their home in Caterham, Surrey, but secretly travelled to see Daynes after months of talking in an online gaming forum.

It was there that Daynes used duct tape to bind his young victim by his wrists and ankles before knifing him in the throat, causing him to die within seconds.

Prosecutors said there was evidence of sexual activity between the pair shortly before the killing and that afterwards Daynes sent pictures of Brecks bloodied body to two of his online friends.

Sentencing Daynes at Chelmsford crown court, the judge, Mrs Justice Cox, ordered him to serve life with a minimum of 25 years in prison, meaning he will be at least 44 by the time he is released.

Cox said: Having lured the young victim to your flat, you murdered him. You had befriended Breck and a number of other adolescent friends through an online community.

Your contact with Breck increased in a sinister way. The precise details of what happened in your flat are unclear and may never be known. Im sure that this murder was driven by sadistic or sexual motivation.

There were serious questions over the police handling of the case as it emerged that Daynes was arrested on suspicion of the rape and sexual assault of a 15-year-old alleged victim three years before he attacked Breck.

These offences were reported to Essex police in 2011 but the force decided not to take any action. They were then re-investigated when Daynes was brought in for questioning over Brecks murder.

The Guardian revealed in November that Brecks parents, Barry Bednar and Lorin LaFave, have launched a legal action against Essex and Surrey police forces over their handling of the case. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has also launched investigations into the two forces.

Daynes, who used the online monicker EagleOneSix, befriended Breck in the internet gaming group TeamSpeak in which the 19-year-old was described as the controlling ringmaster.

The pair played war games like Call of Duty and Battlefield for hours, during which Daynes claimed that he worked for the US government and promised Breck great wealth through a fictional computer business.

LaFave, 47, a teaching assistant from Michigan, grew increasingly concerned that Daynes was manipulating her son at one stage she confronted him online before contacting Surrey police in December 2013 over strong fears that he was being groomed and manipulated by the older man. Despite this report, the family believe no action was taken to prevent Daynes carrying out the killing two months later.

Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC told the court how Daynes bought condoms, duct tape and syringes online in preparation for the attack before giving Breck a false alibi in case his parents asked questions about visiting a friend.

After stabbing the 14-year-old in the neck, Daynes posted pictures of the body to at least two people and circulated news of Brecks death online.

Daynes then showered and changed his clothes before calling 999, claiming in a calm voice that he had stabbed Breck while trying to stop him from taking his life.

During the call, Daynes claimed he and the 14-year-old had got into an altercation, adding: Only one of us came out alive.

Outlining his story in a matter-of-fact manner, the controlling killer told the operator: I grabbed the knife and stabbed him in the back of the neck, I believe somewhere near the brain stem. I dont remember exactly what happened but the fight ended with me cutting his throat.

Asked by the operator if he was saying he had killed somebody, he replied simply: Yes, I am.

When officers arrived at his home, they found Brecks body laying in the bedroom. Daynes had submerged his computer equipment in water to destroy evidence.

In mitigation, Dayness counsel Simon Mayo QC said the 19-year-old had experienced deep-rooted feelings of rejection and isolation in his life and that he was taken into local authority care at a young age after his mother moved abroad. He felt more at home in the game world than the real world, Mayo said.

Outside court, crown prosecutor Jenny Hopkins said: Our case was that Lewis Daynes, even though he was only 18 when he committed Brecks murder, was a controlling and manipulative individual who carefully planned this crime.

He groomed Breck online using their shared interest in computer games and over a period of months he manipulated Breck, turning him against his family.

A month before the tragic event of Brecks death, Daynes was clearly organising and planning, buying duct tape and other items online. He gave Breck a mobile phone and also sent instructions by text on the lies Breck should tell his family so he would be able to visit Dayness home in Grays, Essex.

We have seen cases where young people have been groomed online but it is rare for it to culminate in such a dreadful and violent murder.

The degree of planning and manipulation by Daynes is shocking and when you consider the young ages of perpetrator and victim, it stands out as one of the most cruel, violent and unusual cases we have dealt with.

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A paedophile who filmed himself sexually abusing a one-year-old girl was caught when he left a disc of his child porn at his former home.

Martin Hunt, 24, has been jailed for 12 years after admitting a string of offences including sexually assaulting a child and distributing child porn.

He was caught out when he moved house and the new owners found a disc of his vile crimes hidden under a kitchen unit, a court heard.

They tipped off police who discovered Hunt, of Frinton, Essex, had emailed his disgusting images and videos to another known paedophile.

Hunt pleaded guilty to 19 offences at Chelmsford Crown Court including sexual activity with a child and making indecent images of children.

The offences dated from January 2012 to February 2014, but were said to have occurred over three or four months from December 2012.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC passed an extended sentence for public protection.

She told Hunt he would have to serve two-thirds of the 12 years in custody before he would then be eligible for parole.

He will then be on licence - subject to recall to prison - and under supervision for eight years after he is released.

The judge told him : "From now on every time you look at your reflection in the mirror, every day you will know that you behaved in the most base, despicable and self-serving manner."

She added that Hunt had shown minimal remorse.

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A woman and four men were found guilty on Wednesday of offences relating to an international paedophile ring which used a nudist website as a guise for its offences.

John Maddox, 46, of Rainham, Essex, was convicted of a charge of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing indecent photographs of children.

Hampshire police began investigating the ring after being tipped off by Australian authorities who uncovered a "mirror image" ring which also abused a young child. Hathaway was in contact with this ring in Australia and shared images with them. One of the charges faced by Noon concerned her encouragement of an Australian child to engage in sexual activity.

Chat logs totalling 2,000 pages were uncovered by police, as well as 14,000 indecent images of children and 300 videos of children being abused.

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A JUDGE fired off a clear message about the seriousness of underage sex by sending a 30-year-old man, who repeatedly had intercourse with a girl half his age, to prison for three years.

Tim Posey had a sexual relationship with the 15-year-old, from Grays, over a number of months, Basildon Crown Court heard.

Standing in the dock yesterday, Posey, of no fixed address, was told by Judge John Lodge, that underage sex was a “serious matter”.

Despite Posey’s mitigating counsel saying the girl had consented to sex every time, and the pair had formed a “boyfriend/girlfriend relationship”, Judge Lodge told Posey: “You embarked on a sexual relationship with a girl who was 15.

“It matters not that she instigated sexual contact on some occasions. The law is there to protect children and that is what 15-year-old girls are.

“You are a 30-year-old man and this was a serious matter indeed.”

The court heard how Posey began having sex with the girl after moving to Grays from his home in Scotland to live with a different woman, in September last year.

The court also heard how Posey, who had no previous convictions and plans to return to Scotland once he is released from prison, now realises his behaviour “should never have happened”.

Posey pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a female child under 16 at an earlier hearing.

He also admitted an offence of failing to comply with the requirements of a sexual offender’s notification order.

He was told he will serve half his prison sentence before being considered for parole.

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A PAEDOPHILE has been jailed for repeatedly abusing a child and posing as another boys father to abduct him from school.

Dean Freeman, 21, of Hamstel Road, Southend, viewed vile images of young boys being sexually abused before calling a Rayleigh school claiming to be the father of a ten-year-old pupil.

He told staff he was sending a taxi to collect the child as he needed to attend a dental appointment. Freeman, who later admitted his motivation was sexual, then contacted a Rayleigh taxi firm to pick the boy up.

But his plan was foiled by the quick-thinking actions of driver Steven Hilder.

He became suspicious after the boy said he did not recognise the house where he had been taken. Moments later Mr Hilder picked Freeman up from his home in Hamstel Road, Southend, but threw him out his car after he was told by his office the victim didnt have permission to leave school.

It was only when he was arrested for abduction on January 3 another child came forward and reported he had been sexually abused by Freeman for six years between 2000 and 2006.

At Basildon Crown Court, Judge Michael Brooke QC branded Freeman a danger to the public, and praised Mr Hilder for spotting the danger.

He added: It is clear to me the defendant does have sado-sexual fantasies and he showed he had the motivation to realise such fantasies.

Freeman pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to abduction, possessing indecent images of children, gross indecency on a child under 16 and sexual touching of a child without consent and was jailed for five years and eight months.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register.

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A PAEDOPHILE who filmed himself raping and sexually abusing two schoolgirls, then shared the images online has been jailed.

Raymond Minns must serve at least three years, after which he could be considered for release.

Police raided Minns's home in Vange last November, seizing his computer. They discovered more than 18,000 images of children being sexually abused.

When 29-year-old Minns was interviewed, he admitted "grooming" two of the girls in the photos, before repeatedly sexually abusing and raping them.

He also admitted taking pictures of himself as he abused the victims, using his mobile phone and a video camera, so he could share the images with fellow paedophiles on the internet.

Yesterday, at Basildon Crown Court, Judge Michael Brooke QC told Minns: "I hope very much you are given all the rehabilitation you so clearly need and three years from now you can think about applying to the parole board to be released on licence."

He banned Minns from ever working with children, from living or being alone with a child under the age of 16, from attending clubs where children under 16 might be present. He also barred him from using the internet.

The defendant will remain on the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life.

Minns admitted four counts of raping a child under 13, one of attempted rape of a child under 13, eight counts of taking indecent photos of a child, two of distributing indecent photos of a child and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He also admitted one charge of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and possessing indecent photos of a child.

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A convicted child rapist who went on the run from a mental unit following a shopping trip has been banned from any further outings - for now.

At Basildon Crown Court, Judge Philip Clegg revealed it was the fourth time Patrick Cash, 35, had gone missing from Clare House, in Burnt Mills Road, Bowers Gifford. Cash, who was convicted in 1995 of twice raping a schoolboy, disappeared for 11 days last month after being allowed to go to Basildon.

Instead he got the train to London and went drinking with friends.

Police at first failed to tell the public the sex offender was on the run and waited five days before launching a public appeal.

Cash eventually handed himself in to police.

Judge Clegg said action was needed to protect Cash and the public. He said: "I am not in the business of punishing the mentally-ill, but I am in the business of ensuring the public are protected."

Cash was released into the care of staff at Clare House.

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A judge has apologised to two teenage girls after sentencing guidelines prevented her from jailing a pervert who sexually abused them at his animal sanctuary.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC admitted that it was with a heavy heart that Michael Taylor, 75, was allowed to walk free from court despite abusing the girls, then aged 15 and 17.

Taylor had admitted to sexual assault at the petting farm he has run since 1989. He groomed, kissed and groped the pair now aged 17 and 19 at Mistley Park Place in Essex, which is home to 2,000 animals.

In her victim impact statement, the younger of the two victims said she would like to see Taylor go to prison for a long time a sentiment the judge said she understood.

But because of Sentencing Council guidelines relating to the age of the victims and the seriousness of the assaults, Judge Lynch said she was unable to put Taylor behind bars.

Speaking to the victims and their families at Chelmsford Crown Court, she said: With a heavy heart I propose to adopt the recommendations in the pre-sentence report.

The judge imposed a 36-month community order, which led to criticism from the NSPCC. It said it did not feel morally right.

The young victims will have been scarred in some way by this appalling experience and will need support to recover, a spokesman said. Sentences in such cases should always fit the crime and act as a deterrent to others.

Judge Lynch told Taylor: You have to live with the damage you have done to two young lives.

You are 75 and hitherto of good character up until this period of dreadful offending.

I am sure this is a crime you will never forget and you dont deserve to forget.

You took advantage of children. Some might suggest you have only cuddled and kissed and this is not a serious case, but I deprecate any such suggestion. Adults who sexually assault children must take the consequences.

Although Taylor was also ordered to take part in a community sex offender programme and to sign the sex offenders register, he will still be allowed to continue working at the farm.

He was also told to pay 1,000 in costs and was banned from unsupervised contact with girls under 18 for five years.

Taylor, who runs Mistley Park Place, had made sure the girls were alone before kissing and cuddling them, the court was told. On one occasion, he offered 100 for a kiss and a cuddle.

He also sent the girls text messages and told them they were beautiful before urging them to delete the messages. He forcefully kissed the 17-year-old on the lips which she described as disgusting, the court heard.

During the same period, between July and October 2013, he kissed the 15-year-old girl, and touched her bottom and breasts over her clothes.

Chris Paxton, prosecuting, said: There was a process of grooming, ingratiating himself and trying to win over someone who was 50 years younger than himself.

Peter Barlex, mitigating, said that Taylor was trying to be sociable. He added: He was trying to offer comfort and be a friend, but accepts he got carried away and things got out of hand.

He appreciates the gravity of the allegations.

Speaking outside court, PC Rachel Moss of Essex Police said: Justice has been achieved.

It is clear to me that they have been severely affected by the crimes committed upon them by Taylor. I only hope the sentence will allow them to get on with their lives.