Latest Offenders Exeter

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A man has been jailed for raping one 13-year-old girl and sexually assaulting a second after they had been plied with alcohol by a group of street drinkers. Clay Bamford met the two schoolgirls after they had gone back to his fathers flat with other youngsters who had been drinking near Exeter Cathedral.

He carried on drinking with the girls before raping one under a duvet on the floor and putting his hands inside the clothing of the other. She was so terrified that she thought about jumping to safety from a first floor balcony but instead chose to stay with her friend.

Bamford, who had recently been released from jail for a street attack in Exeter, was due up in court the very next day for exposing himself to a policeman. He was also on bail for attacking a fellow inmate while serving his previous sentence.

His assaults had appalling effects on the two girls. The rape victim tried to take her own life and is still receiving counselling almost two years later. The second says she still suffers nightmares and flashbacks.

The first girl said: I used to be happy, confident and not bothered by anything, Now I am empty and dark. I would like to see him suffer behind bars in the way he has made me suffer.

Bamford, aged 22, of King Arthurs Road, Exeter, denied rape and assault by penetration against one girl and sexual assault on the other. He was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court in December.

He was jailed for a total of nine years by Judge Stephen Climie at Exeter Crown Court. He ordered the sentence to run consecutively to the six year term which Bamford received for the prison attack very shortly after he carried out these offences. He was put on the sex offenders register for life and made subject to an order which restricts his future contact with under aged girls.

The judge told him: These two girls were vulnerable, at least psychologically, and certainly physically when it came to the prospect of what took place at your hands. It must have been apparent they were just 13 but despite that you took advantage of their age, their vulnerability and their use of alcohol.

Miss Heather Hope, prosecuting, said the attack happened in May 2022 when the girls had been drinking with people they met on the streets of Exeter. They went back to a flat occupied by Bamfords father Paul and he arrived to see his father and found the girls there.

The girl who was raped made it clear she did not want sex but Bamford carried on. She had disassociated herself and watched Tik-Tok videos during the actual rape.

Mr Joss Ticehurst, defending, said Bamford had not planned the sexual assaults or got the girls drunk but had been drawn into a situation which he came upon by chance at his fathers flat. He said: He was not a predator but took advantage of a situation in which he found himself.

Mr Ticehurst said Bamford had a very difficult childhood in which he was taken into care at the age of 13 months. He has no history of sexual offending other than the offence of exposure which happened as a response to being stopped by a male police officer.

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A FORMER soldier has been found guilty of raping a woman who he met on an online swingers’ dating site.

Ezra Robinson went on to have a two-year relationship with the woman and they had a child together.

He went on to force himself on her while she slept after the relationship had turned sour.

He was able to use the Fabswingers website – where he met his victim – despite already having a conviction for a previous rape and being on the sex offenders’ register.

He is a body builder who was working on a building site and the victim was unable to stop him when he had sex with her against her will.

He threatened to kill her if she went to the police but she summoned up the courage to report him.

Former Royal Engineer Robinson, who served in mine and explosive clearing operations in Afghanistan, has been told to expect a jail term of at least seven years after a judge at Exeter Crown Court ordered the probation to assess whether he poses a danger to the public.

Judge Stephen Climie adjourned sentence until April and remanded him in custody.

He told him: “You have been found guilty of offences that warrant significant custodial terms.”

Robinson, aged 31, originally from Moretonhampstead but of Lamb Park, Drewsteignton, denied rape but was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court. He was also convicted of coercive and controlling behaviour. He will be sentenced in April.

The jury reached their verdicts without being told that he was a convicted rapist, although they were told that he had previously been jailed for a “serious sexual offence”.

Judge Climie explained that decision to the jury after they had returned their verdict.

He said: “You were told he had a conviction for a serious sexual offence. It was rape but there is an inevitable prejudice that attaches to that word.

“One of the factors we have to look at when someone is convicted of rape more than once is what is called dangerousness, which has a very specific legal definition. This is probably a case where there needs to be a report.”

The judge said a finding of dangerousness would lead to an extended period of licence which would be added on to any sentence he may serve. He also said a probation report would look at Robinson’s mental health issues.

During a ten-day trial, Miss Kelly Scrivener, prosecuting, said Robinson met the woman after contacting her through the Fabswingers website. The date went well and they went on to form a relationship.

She found him attractive at first and described him as being “the energy in the room”, but the relationship turned sour. On their final meeting he forced her to have sex. He told her he had a conviction for a sexual offence but tried to minimise it.

Robinson said all sexual contact with the woman was consensual and denied ever forcing her to have sex with him or using or threatening violence. He said he had been in the army for nearly five years and had previously been married.

He said he was working as a plant operator at a building site in Ivybridge at the time of his arrest.

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An Exeter man has been sent to jail after he was caught by paedophile hunters sending sexual messages to decoy children online. Jamie Short used Facebook and WhatsApp to pester what he thought were 13 and 14-year-old girls.

The 51-year-old sent them disgusting pictures of himself and tried to get photos of the children in return. He suggested they have sex, masqueraded as a teenaged boy and even offered to pay £300 to one child to watch him pleasure himself.

He was traced and arrested by police. Short, of Chestnut Avenue, Exeter, has been given an 18-month prison sentence at Exeter Crown Court. The defendant, who has a history of violent crime, is already serving four and a half years for robbery.

Prosecutor Herc Ashworth said the first offence happened in November 2019 when Short contacted a decoy account of a 13-year-old operated by a paedophile hunter. He quickly turned the conversation sexual and offered to meet her when she came to Devon on holiday.

He then claimed to be a 14-year-old boy and sent the child naked images of himself. He also tried to call her via WhatsApp.

Then in March of last year he was at it again contacting another account - despite being on bail at the time. He claimed to be 17 years old and sent more perverted images of himself.

Mr William Parkhill, defending, said Short was living an isolated and lonely life at the time. He also has a degenerative muscle condition which means he can no longer use his hands properly.

The defendant pleaded guilty to three offences of attempted sexual communication with a child and two of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

His 18-month sentence will run consecutive to the robbery term he is already serving making a total of six years.

Short was given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and told to sign the sex offender register.

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A pensioner who tried to meet an 11-year-old girl for sex has been jailed after he was trapped by a police sting operation.

Richard Courage thought that a woman who he met in an online chat room was a child abuser with access to an 11-year-old girl. In reality, he was messaging an undercover police officer.

He sent a stream of messages fantasising about having sex with the girl which culminated in him booking a room at a hotel in East Devon where he planned to take her virginity.

He called off the rendezvous at the last minute, claiming to have Covid, but carried on his online messaging with the undercover officer.

He was traced through the hotel booking and found with a small number of child images on his computer when he was arrested. Police also recovered a dismantled shotgun in his car.

Retired businessman Courage, aged 75, from Exeter, admitted arranging or commissioning a child sex offence, possession of indecent images of children and possession of a firearm without a certificate.

He was jailed for three years and four months by Judge Anna Richardson at Exeter Crown Court, put on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order which restricts his future access to children and the internet.

She told him that the offence which he had tried to arrange was in effect a child rape but that he deserves credit for having no previous convictions and for deciding to abandon his planned meeting when he realised he was moving ‘from a digital conversation to reality’.

Mr Lewis Aldous, prosecuting, said an undercover officer started exchanging messages with Courage, who was using the screenname OlddevonMforFem on eh Chatiw site and posed as a woman with access to an 11-year-old girl.

Courage’s messages became sexual and he discussed having sex with the girl before he booked a room in a budget hotel on the outskirts of Exeter for the night on August 10, 2022.

He cancelled the meeting on the day before, claiming he had Covid, and although he stayed in touch with the decoy officer, he dd not try to arrange a new rendez-vous. His messages made it clear that he intended to have sex with the girl but wanted to minimise the discomfort she suffered.

Police found 14 child images of girls aged seven to 16 on his laptop but they were all at the lowest level, showing sexual posing rather than any sexual activity. A dismantled shotgun was found in his car which could have been reassembled and which needed a licence.

Mr Jason Beal, defending, said Courage had reached the age of 75 without ever being in any kind of trouble and had made a positive contribution to the community. He has important caring responsibilities for his wife, who is in poor health.

He said Courage did not have Covid when he cancelled the meeting but realised he had gone too far and used it as an excuse to back out.

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A man who raped an Exeter University student as she was asleep in bed has been jailed for eight years.

Adam Mohammed, 24, of New Bridge Street, Exeter, was found guilty of rape at a trial at Exeter Crown Court in June 2023.

The rape happened in student accommodation at the university campus in March 2021.

A university spokesperson said this was an extremely rare incident and that it was supporting the victim.

As well as praising the victim's courage, Det Con Alex Powe, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said there was "no place to hide" for "predatory men".

Mohammed will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life, the court heard.

Presiding over the sentencing, Judge David Evans said he was in no doubt that in March 2021, Mohammed had gone to the University in Exeter hoping to find a party where he would meet a woman.

The jury had heard how he had made sexualised comments during a night of socialising in the accommodation block.

Pushed him off

The victim went to bed at about midnight and left her door open so her friends could check on her as she was feeling unwell, the court was told.

Later that night, Mohammed entered the victim's bedroom and began raping her while she was asleep.

She woke up, pushed him off and ran to a friend's room, the court was told.

The student was so traumatised by what happened she moved out of her room.

Police said DNA linked to Mohammed, who denied the offence, was found on the victim's clothes.

Det Con Alex Powe, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "Mohammed took advantage of the victim while she was asleep.

"I am pleased that he will now serve a considerable amount of time in prison where he can no longer be a threat to women."I am incredibly grateful to the victim and her friends for the courage they have shown and their tenacity to bring this offender to justice."

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Police have welcomed the conviction of an Exeter rapist - and praised the courage of the woman he assaulted. Christopher Murphy, aged 35, has been jailed for eight years and nine months by a judge at Exeter Crown Court.

He raped a woman at her home in 2019. A jury found him guilty of three offences at a trial last year and he returned to Exeter Crown Court to be sentenced on Tuesday (January 9).

The judge said he has a "closed and inflexible" attitude to the incident which allows him to hold on to a "high opinion of yourself." She added an extra four years licence to his sentence due to the risk he poses.

Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Andy Boundy said afterwards: “We would like to take this opportunity to praise the courage shown by the victim in coming forward to report the offences and her support throughout the court process.

“We welcome the verdict and hope that the conviction and subsequent sentence bring about a sense of justice for the victim. We would urge anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault to come forward and report to police. We will support you

The trial was told Murphy took advantage of the woman while visiting her home, first kissing and then refusing to leave before committing the offence.

She said the assault had an ongoing impact on her life. She has panic attacks and is hypervigilant of her surroundings. But she has "already begun to heal" and hopes to move on with her life, the court was told.

Murphy, of King William Street, was convicted of rape and assault by penetration. He has previous convictions for battery, sending offensive communications and assaulting someone in a pub with a glass.

But references from friends also described him as "a wonderful person" and "big-hearted" who had overcome a difficult start to life.

"It will take considerable time to make you open to rehabilitation," said Judge Anna Richardson.

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A sex offender has been jailed after he joined a notorious Exmouth paedophile in a plan to abuse a 14-year-old boy.

Benjamin Holt joined in group chats online with former theatre manager Gareth Weeks and the boy in which they discussed their perverted sexual fantasies.

Holt asked the boy to commit sexual acts on himself and was in the process of setting up a meeting at which they were to have sex but the intended victim realised that he was in danger and backed out.

Police found the messages after arresting 55-year-old Weeks in Exmouth for having sex with another 14-year-old who he met on the gay dating site Grindr. He was jailed for 15 years in 2020.

Holt had also downloaded a video of a boy aged about nine having sex with a dog. Police found it on his phone alongside another clip of bestiality involving an adult woman.

He was already a registered sex offender, having previously been jailed for downloading images of boys when he was still in his teens. His most recent conviction was for a similar offence in 2012.

Holt, aged 37, of Old Market Close, Exeter, admitted inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, making, by downloading, an indecent image of a child, and possession of extreme pornography.

He was jailed for three years and four months with a two year, eight month extended licence and put on the sex offenders’ register for life. He was also banned from contact with children for 15 by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The judge told him: “This was not a fantasy, you meant this thing to happen. It was only the boy’s withdrawal from the group chat that thwarted your intention. You have a very strong sexual interest in young boys.

“You have spoken very openly in the probation report about your strong desire to meet and to try to abuse young children.”

Miss Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said Holt was identified as a result of a police inquiry into more serious offences of abuse that uncovered his group chats, in which he discussed having different sorts of sex with the boy. The images were found when his devices were seized by police.

Miss Rachel Smith, defending, said Holt recognises he has a problem and wants help to address it. She said that these offences arose out of meeting Gareth Weeks and said his influence was ‘catastrophic.

In the earlier case, Weeks, of Bassetts Gardens, Exmouth, admitted two counts of sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following grooming, inciting a child to sexual activity, arranging or facilitating a child sex offence, breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, and making, taking and distributing indecent images of children.

He was jailed for 15 years with a six year extended licence and certified as a dangerous offender by Judge Timothy Rose.

He had been a stage manager who worked with major showbiz stars at theatres all over Britain and boasted to friends about having known celebrities including Little Britain’s Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

He was jailed for child sex offences in 1993 and 2012 but was still able to join an amateur theatre in Devon as a volunteer. He was still helping to organise shows until his arrest.

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A serial sex attacker who stalked his victim as she made her way home from a night out before raping her in a graveyard has been jailed for 18 years. Convicted rapist Cosmin-Nicolae Vasioiu, 47, prowled Exeter city centre looking for a lone woman to attack in June last year.

The Romania national followed his victim as she walked home from a night out with friends and attacked her in the grounds of St Bartholomew’s Cemetery. She tried to fight him off, but he stripped her naked and raped her and only fled when she screamed, which alerted residents living nearby to her plight.

CCTV footage, which you can watch at the top of this article, captures Vasioiu in Exeter High Street prior to the attack trying to identify possible targets. Footage also clearly showed Vasioiu following his victim, who is a woman in her 30s, through the Iron Bridge area of Exeter. 

Exeter Crown Court heard Vasioiu had come to Britain after serving a prison sentence for a near-identical rape of an 18-year-old woman in Switzerland in 2014. He remained in the UK after Brexit but did not apply for EU settled status, which meant his previous convictions were not flagged to the authorities.

Vasioiu was living in a garden shed and doing gardening work when he carried out his latest sex attack. Afterwards he shaved off his beard and hair and got a friend to wash his clothes and shoes.

Felicity Payne, prosecuting, told the court the offence was planned and had been committed while Vasioiu was the subject of a community order for theft and assault.

“The prosecution say, and put their case in this way during the trial, that he was trawling the city centre seeking to identify targets for sexual assault,” she said. “He did just that when he identified the victim. At that point in time, she was significantly worse for wear due to intoxication.

“He was captured on CCTV following the victim and altering his course, crossing the road, and his pace is seen to quicken as he follows her. The victim made efforts to fight the defendant but was unable to resist. She ultimately began to scream for help and the defendant ran off.

“When she was located she was naked and her clothing strewn about the cemetery.”

The defendant, of Topsham Road, Exeter, had denied rape but was convicted by a jury following a trial after DNA evidence linked him to the victim. Pushpanjali Gohil, defending, said: “There is little mitigation I can advance given the offence was denied.”

Recorder Malcolm Galloway ruled Vasioiu posed a danger to women due to the risk of further offending and imposed an extended sentence. Vasioiu was jailed for 18 years with an extended period of five years on licence and will have to serve at least 12 years’ imprisonment before he can apply for parole.

“The CCTV from the city centre that the police were able to obtain after the rape is clear and chilling,” the judge said. “You were patrolling Exeter city centre looking for lone vulnerable women. The CCTV shows you stopping outside late-night drinking establishments and observing from doorways.

“I have no doubt you were waiting for an opportunity to present itself. It is plain from the available CCTV that anyone observing your victim as you did would immediately be aware that she was heavily under the influence of alcohol and vulnerable.

“The attack and its aftermath have had a profound and prolonged effect upon her, and she is still living with what happened to her that night.” The judge said Vasioiu did not regret the offence and saw himself as the victim.

“I agree with the comment of the probation service that your misogyny and sexual preoccupation and your distorted view of consent are all likely to lead to you reoffending,” he said. “I have no doubt that you continue and will continue for the foreseeable future to pose a significant risk of further sexual offences.”

Vasioiu was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life. Speaking afterwards, Detective Sergeant Samantha Wenham, from the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “I welcome today’s sentence after Cosmin-Nicolae Vasioiu was found guilty of rape during a trial in May.

“He preyed on a lone female who he had never met and subjected her to a vicious attack without remorse.

“He then returned to where he was staying and proceeded to bag up his clothes which he gave to an unwitting friend to wash, before shaving off his long hair in an attempt to change his appearance and destroy evidence linking him to the attack.

“This was a calculated and planned act in which Vasioiu has shown absolutely no remorse throughout. The response from the public to our appeals was vital in us securing the CCTV footage that was key in us being able to identify and arrest Vasioiu.

“The investigative team went above and beyond to gain the evidence needed to prove beyond any doubt that Vasioiu was the attacker.

“This included numerous international enquiries which led to the team discovering that Vasioiu had a prior conviction in Switzerland that matched up with the attack that took place in Exeter; both in how they were carried out and Vasioiu’s actions post-attack.

“This allowed us to take the rare step of being able to share Vasioiu’s previous bad character and offending history with the jury during the trial, which was vital in securing the conviction.”

It is expected that Vasioiu will serve his sentence in the UK, before being deported back to Romania.

DS Wenham added: “My team and I want to take a moment to recognise the victim in this case. She has been through an horrific ordeal that no person should be subjected to and showed great courage and strength throughout the investigation and criminal justice process.

“She put her faith in us, and I hope today’s result will help her to move on and contribute to her recovery from this ordeal.”

Superintendent Antony Hart, policing commander for Exeter, said: “No one should feel unsafe on our streets, and each and every one of us has the right to be able to walk home without the fear of attack.

“Today’s sentencing reflects the seriousness of the offence and the impact this incident has had on the victim. We will continue to do everything in our power to bring attackers to justice and to prevent further similar offences occurring, both through proactive policing and by working with a range of partner agencies in the city”.

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A Facebook predator who planned to have sex with an underage girl on Exmouth beach has been jailed after being trapped by paedophile hunters.

Jose Alves made contact with what he thought were girls aged 11 and 13 on social media and sent them both explicit videos which showed adults having sex with children.

In fact, he had been trapped by a group called Justice4Kids which alerted the police and baited a trap which led him to a proposed meeting at Exmouth railway station, where he was arrested.

Alves suggested having sex with the 13-year-old girl and sent her pictures which he claimed to be of his genitals as well as posting the child abuse movie to her.

He became hooked on online chats at a time when his own marriage was breaking up and he felt isolated, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Alves, aged 46, of Okehampton Road, Exeter, admitted two counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, three of making, by downloading, indecent images of children and one of distributing them.

He was jailed for two years by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court, put on the sex offenders’ register and barred from working with children.

The judge told him: “I accept that difficulties in your marriage led you to drink and a great deal of unhappiness and that you were searching for solace in various ways.

“That may be why you progressed from adult pornography to looking at images of child abuse and chose to make contact with not one but two children who believed to be as young as 11 and 13.

“You took the conversations into grossly sexual territory and sent abhorrent imagery of children being sexually abused by adults. The combination of offences is too serious for anything other than immediate imprisonment.”

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said police were contacted by Justice4Kids in March 2021 after Alves made contact with two decoys posing as young girls on Facebook.

He sent lewd messages and a child sex video to both and suggested having sex with the 13-year-old. The decoys arranged for him to go to Exmouth in the hope of having sex on the beach and he was confronted at the station.

Alves claimed to be 16 at the start of the conversations but eventually revealed his true age. He was not deterred when the decoys claimed to be innocent girls of 11 and 13.

The National Crime Agency had been alerted by Facebook to the obscene movies he sent on the platform and the police were already trying to trace Alves when he was arrested.

He was found with 459 images or movies on his computers including 112 movies showing adults having sex with children, some of which he had sent to either the decoys or online contacts.

Miss Kelly Scrivener, defending, said Alves committed the offences at a time when he was isolated and drinking too much during the breakdown of his marriage.

She said he is deeply ashamed of what he did and has taken steps to change his lifestyle and avoid further online activity. He has been assessed as suitable for a sex offenders’ programme and a good prospect of rehabilitation.

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A 26-year-old Exeter man has been jailed for raping a 12-year-old boy. Christopher Houghton committed multiple sex assaults on the child and tried to buy his silence by offering gifts.

He also took indecent photos of his victim and shared them with another paedophile. The boy told his parents about what had happened and Houghton was arrested.

The defendant, of Brunswick Street, pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault against a child under 13, four charges of raping a child, and one each of making and distributing indecent images. He was jailed for eight years.

Mr Rupert Taylor, defending, said Houghton had not tried to lie about his behaviour and has shown remorse. He has been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum with learning difficulties. He is a man of previous good character. Exeter Crown Court was told the abuse had led to the boy suffering mental health issues.

Judge Anna Richardson said the defendant was only 23 at the time and barely had an adult brain. References said he was a 'kind and thoughtful' man and he has been behaving well in custody since his arrest and addressing his behaviour by attending courses.

The defendant must serve two thirds of his sentence in prison before he can be considered for release.

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A sex offender has been jailed after he spied on a young girl as she got changed on a beach in East Devon.

Pensioner Graham Parkinson was found with a series of photographs which he took of a family with two children on Seaton beach during last year’s August bank holiday.

Police also found more than 1,300 child abuse images or videos on his phone or computer including 464 which showed child rape or serious abuse, sometimes of babies or toddlers.

His collection included more than 100 artificially created images which he had downloaded from the internet over a period of months.

Parkinson completed a sex offenders’ treatment course after being caught for identical offences in 2015 and has a total of 26 previous convictions. He was on the sex offenders’ register and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He was caught because his police offender manager carried out routine checks. He admitted having a compulsion to seek out child images which he could not overcome.

Parkinson, aged 71, of Lower North Street, Exeter, admitted six counts of making, by downloading, indecent images of children and was jailed for 20 months by Judge Stephen Climie at Exeter Crown Court.

He was put on the sex offenders register and made subject of a new SHPO, both of which will last a further ten years.

The judge told him: “You reverted to your old ways, and not to a limited extent. There were close to 1,500 images and a very large number in category A.

“There were images of children under five being brutalized and raped and showing them in significant distress. That is an aggravating factor, as are your previous convictions.”

Mr Herc Ashworth, prosecuting, said two batches of material were found by police in September last year. There were 129 computer generated images, of which 52 were in the worst category A and 1.370 images or videos.

These included 92 movies and 324 still images at category A.

Mr Ashworth said: “A laptop in his bedroom contained several search terms and the internet history showed he had searched for ‘rape of babies’.

“The majority of the children were aged three to ten and some depicted abuse and degradation of very young children who were visibly distressed.

“A phone memory card linked to the camera contained five images taken on Seaton seafront which showed a family with two children, one male one female, she being aged about six to eight. One image showed her getting changed.”

Miss Pamela Calder, defending, said Parkinson has sought help from his church for his compulsion and believes he needs help to overcome an addiction to these images.

She said it is some time since he was last sent on a sex offenders’ course and would benefit from doing this type of work as an alternative to prison.

She said: “He realises he has a compulsion that is beyond his control. Like any addiction, he finds it very difficult to control without help.”

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A community centre cleaner, who raised thousands for charity, has been jailed for sexually abusing a child.

Peter Gibbons, from Exeter, worked at the Wonford Community and Learning Centre when the offences took place, Exeter Crown Court heard. Police arrested him when they found pictures of the naked child on his phone and drawers filled with children's pants.

Gibbons is well-known in the community for the annual Christmas lights switch-on and charity fundraising, Devon Live reports. Some members of the public who were in court for the sentencing had to be told to be quiet during the hearing on Friday (October 7).

The court heard that Gibbons has been at the centre of a "great deal of vitriol within the community" since pleading guilty. He admitted to six serious sexual offences against a child, including oral rape and making indecent images and was jailed for six years.

Exeter Crown Court was told Gibbins has a low IQ and "reduced cognitive functioning". Judge Peter Johnson said: "This was sexual abuse of a young boy by a man with significant intellectual difficulties."

Prosecutor Mr Peter Coombe said the abuse came to light earlier this year when the child revealed what had been happening. The defendant had frightened the child into silence by saying there would be trouble if anyone found out.

When police went to Gibbins' home they found him sobbing and saying sorry. In his drawers, they found sexual aids and bags of children's pants. Miss Virginia Cornwall, defending, said Gibbins was a man with limitations who would find it more difficult than most to be in prison. He lived with his mum and until this offending had not been in trouble before.

She suggested his behaviour did not amount to grooming but Judge Johnson disagreed and said grooming was a feature of the case. He added that the defendant's intellectual defects had to be taken into account when sentencing. Gibbins was also given credit for his guilty pleas.

He said the defendant was not dangerous within the legal meaning of the word but was an offender of particular concern and would have to serve a further 12 months on licence once he is released from jail. He must serve at least half of the six-year sentence before the parole board considers whether it is safe to free him.

Gibbins, formerly from Exeter but lately of Cockington Lane in Torquay, was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to restrict his contact with children in the future and must sign the sex offenders register.

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A sex offender working at a hotel in Exeter has admitted pestering a woman in the health club Jacuzzi. Naweed Nasery, 21, followed the woman around the premises, bombarded her with WhatsApp messages and ignored her requests to stop, a court heard.

He was working as a porter at the Mercure Exeter at the time and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which banned him from approaching lone females. The woman, a 19-year-old, was using the health club and called police after a series of incidents.

Nasery, of Cowick Street, admitted breaching the terms of his SHPO and was remanded in custody until a sentencing hearing next month.

Magistrates were told Nasery's work gave him use of the hotel's facilities and the first incident happened when he approached the woman in the Jacuzzi and sat next to her. He asked if she was single, her age and for her phone number. He told her he did not have any friends and would like to leave with her.

An hour later he texted her about meeting up. After sending more messages she told him to stop but he continued over the next few days. On May 17 she had 11 missed calls from him.

He carried on pestering her about being 'friends' when she returned to to health club. She managed to leave the hotel by a different exit and avoided going back to the gym. She made it clear on a number of occasions that he should leave her alone and was making her feel uncomfortable.

She contacted police on May 21 after receiving more messages from him.

Nasery has a history of similar offending and his behaviour was the latest breach of his SHPO. He was jailed in February for hanging around Exeter City Centre and speaking to woman on their own. He has been assessed as a high risk offender and his behaviour managed by the authorities.

Ms Lisa McArthur, defending, said Nasery was released from his prison recall in August and had previously worked at the Amazon warehouse with no problems. He has serious mental health issues but regularly sees a doctor and his offender manager. He is no longer employed at the hotel.

The defendant was remanded in custody until October 4. He will be sentenced at Exeter Crown Court.

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A boasting Snapchat predator has been jailed after he offered to send pictures of his big package to a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

David Collings, of Topsham, claimed to be a 21-year-old Londoner called Gypsy Davy but was actually a lonely 26-year-old who has a history of online abuse.

He was banned from using Snapchat by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) but installed the app on his phone despite a specific warning from the police, Exeter Crown Court was told.

He used two different accounts on the app, calling himself Davyboy and GypsyDave and made contact with the girl from Essex earlier this year.

The police were alerted after her horrified mother found a stream of messages on her phone in which he offered to send her pictures of his boy and sent a voice note which asked Ive got a big package, can you handle it?.

Collings is a registered sex offender who has previously performed webcam sex acts while being watched online by an 11-year-old girl. The SHPO was intended to prevent him doing the same thing again and allowed the police to monitor his internet and social media activity.

His police offender manager caught him with Snapchat on his phone four times in six months during unannounced visits. He was given a specific warning on the first occasion and prosecuted over the other three.

Collings, of Exeter Road, admitted sexual communications with a child, two breaches of the SHPO, and breach of a suspended sentence imposed for the first breach in March.

He was jailed for a total of a year and 10 months by Judge Timothy Rose, who put him on the sex offenders register for 10 years and imposed a tighter SHPO which will last for the same length of time.

He told him: You carried on doing as you pleased. I have to look at the history of what you have done and you have breached the order for the third time.

That raises a profound concern about the level of risk that you pose and will continue to pose in terms of committing sexual offences directed towards young people.

"I have made a new SHPO but your history does not indicate much optimism that you will comply with it.

Judith Constable, prosecuting, said Essex Police contacted the Devon and Cornwall force in February this year over messages that had been sent to a 15-year-old girl from a Snapchat account in Devon.

Inquiries led them to identify Collings, who had used two different names and claimed to be aged 21 and living in London.

He repeatedly asked for pictures from the girl and offered to send explicit pictures of himself, despite her telling him not to.

Miss Constable said: She felt uncomfortable and each time she was asked, she said no. He sent a voice note which said Ive got a big package, can you handle me? to which she did not reply.

Shortly afterwards, the childs mother found the messages and took the phone away.

"She said she had been concerned about a change in her daughters behaviour over the six weeks in which the messages were sent.

Layla Jhaveri, defending, said Collings suffers from severe autism but has been able to hold down a job as a building labourer and has been working well with probation to change his behaviour.

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A vile pervert has been caged for grooming and sexually abusing a young girl.

Adrian Browers, 49, was branded a high-risk paedophile when he appeared at court.

The horrifying offences date back five years, with the terrified child telling her parents what had happened and police launched an investigation, Devon Live reports.

The case, however, was dropped and no further action was taken against Browers, from Exeter, until he let slip what he had done to a probation officer.

The case was reopened and Browers was convicted after admitting to four sexual offences against the child.

The defendant, who was living in Taunton at the time but later moved to Exeter, has been caged for four years and nine months by a judge at Taunton Crown Court.

He poses a high risk to children and a further two years was added as part of an extended sentence.

Prosecutor Mr Ian Fenny said the offences happened back in 2017. Browers hugged and touched the girl sexually and also incited her to engage in sexual behaviour. The abuse happened on at least three occasions, the court heard.

Mr Fenny said there was obvious planning and evidence of grooming the child. He was arrested in 2018 but not prosecuted.

In August 2020 Browers was found with images of child abuse on his computer and given a community order. Searches made by Browers on his device showed he had a clear sexual interest in young girls.

As part of the court order he was assigned a probation officer and police offender manager to keep tabs on his behaviour. During the course of a meeting with them he admitted sexual contact with a child and the case reopened. When the case came to court he made a failed attempt to exclude his confession from evidence.

Mr Harry Ahuja, defending, said Browers was very sorry for what he had done. He had not committed any further offences and had been doing well on a Sexual Harm Prevention Order made in 2020.

He said justice would be better served with Browers completing a sex offender programme and the judge could suspend the sentence to allow that.

Judge James Townsend said delays in the case were the fault of the defendant for not owning up to what he had done at an earlier stage.

"This was an appalling series of attacks on a vulnerable nine-year-old girl," said the judge. "You abused her on a number of occasions and it must have taken courage for her to disclose what happened to her.

"The effect of the attacks have been very substantial. It has been made all the worse because the case has dragged on for a long time. One can only hope she can move on and recover."

"You plainly demonstrate a sexual interest in young girls and you are prepared to act upon those urges. You plainly represent a risk to young girls. You represent a continuing risk and a determinant sentence would not address that adequately because of the unpredictable nature of that risk."

Browers, of Heavitree Road, Exeter, must serve at least two thirds of his four years and nine month term in prison before he is considered for release. He must serve the remainder of his extended sentence on licence.

The defendant was told to sign the sex offender register and made subject of a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.