Latest Offenders Gateshead

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Joseph Lennard, who lives in sheltered accommodation in Low Fell, was snared by paedophile hunters Dark Justice engaging in 'disgusting' chats.

Perverted pensioner Joseph Lennard sent "stomach churning" messages to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl - including claiming he had abused a six-year-old.

Lennard, 82, set up a profile online initially purporting to be a female called "Wendy13F" and made contact with a profile he believed was that of a child called Amy.

In fact, paedophile hunters Dark Justice were behind the decoy profile, a court heard.

But Lennard, who eventually revealed himself to be a man but lied about his age, believed he was talking to a girl who was 13 or had just turned 14 and sent hundreds of messages over a three week period.

While many were innocuous, he spoke to her about sex acts and sent a picture of male genitals.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he also claimed that when he worked as a lorry driver, he had been responsible for importing illegal immigrants and had been "responsible for a child sex offence with a child as young as six in India" and implied he had engaged in sexual activity with other children in the past.

Lennard, of Low Fell, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and possessing extreme pornography involving bestiality.

Judge Julie Clemitson said the Wendy13F profile created by Lennard suggested it was that of a 13-year-old girl, although the biography was that of an adult female aged 31.

The judge told Lennard: "Quite why you chose to present yourself in that way is unclear. It suggests you were interested in meeting other young girls and hiding your true identity."

The chat moved from Meet4u to WhatsApp and there were many pages of messages.

Judge Clemitson said while a lot of the conversation was innocuous: "There were some fairly stomach-churning passages.

"You tried to impress her with tales of exploiting children abroad.

"You described having a sexual experience with a six-year-old girl. Whether it's true or not, the fact you fantasised about it and discussed it with what you thought was a child is disgusting.

"You also discussed fantasies about nurses touching you up in hospital."

The judge said the bestiality video found on his computer was "depraved to say the least" and said he had "disturbing appetites".

Lennard was sentenced to a three year community order and must sign the sex offenders register and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

The court heard the shame of the conviction is such that Lennard feels he may have to move from the sheltered accommodation he lives in.

Vic Laffey, defending, said: "He acknowledges he has acted foolishly and completely inappropriately and he acknowledges also the court will be rightly concerned about the way he has acted.

"He lives an isolated existence, has no contact with his children, his estranged wife died last year and this children did not even let him know this happened.

"His isolation has led to him exploring social media and the situation deteriorated to the point this offence took place.

"He is ashamed he has lost his good character at 82. He has been very foolish.

"He has significant health problems."

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A SEX offender who hid his past from a single mum of two is spending Christmas in prison. Richard Robert Arthur, 34, from the Felling area of Gateshead, was convicted in July 2010 of meeting a child under the age of 16 years following sexual grooming. Last month the police learnt that Arthur was breaching the conditions of his sentence by repeatedly failing to declare his whereabouts and striking up a relationship with a woman who he had met online. The unsuspecting mum was unaware of his past until she was contacted by someone who knew of Arthurs sex offender status. The mum has now praised Northumbria Police for their swift action and support. She said: A man like him has no place in my, or anyones, family home. When I ended things, he wouldnt take no for an answer and then began harassing me. Luckily, I had the support and protection of Northumbria Police, who not only helped keep my family safe but supported me through the process and I know they are only a phone call away. After learning about his past, she finished the relationship and banned all contact but Arthur started a campaign of harassment against her. He was arrested for breaching his sex offender notification requirements and for domestic abuse harassment and was given a seven-month suspended sentence. But after continuing to contact the woman, he was rearrested and has been remanded in custody after pleading guilty to breaching a harassment order when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on December 13. He is awaiting sentencing. Sgt Elliot Richardson, the investigating officer, is appealing for other women who may have come into contact with Arthur to come forward. He said: I would like to thank the victim in this case, who was clearly very concerned when she learned of Richard Arthurs past. She has shown a great deal of resilience throughout and I am pleased that we have been able to secure a conviction.

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Convicted paedophile snared by TWO vigilante groups after trying to groom both their decoy 'teenage girls' online is sent back to jail for seven years

This is the moment a pervert tells two paedophile hunting groups he is already a convicted sex offender as they snare him for grooming teen girls online.

Charles David Wigham has been sent back to prison after chatting to decoy profiles from both vigilante groups Dark Justice and Guardians of the North.

They turned up at his house where they filmed their confrontation with the 30-year-old before he was arrested by police.

At Newcastle Crown Court he was handed a seven year extended prison sentence after pleading guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage a child in sexual communication, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and breach of a sexual offences prevention order.

In chat logs revealed by the vigilante groups, Wigham, who thought he was speaking to three girls aged 13 and 14, sent graphic pictures as well as links to an explicit porn website.

He also asked the girls 'do you watch porn?' and called them 'baby'.

However, Wigham, of Winlaton, Blaydon on Tyne, was shocked when he realised that he was actually speaking to paedophile hunters.

When he was confronted he admitted to the two groups he was already a convicted sex offender.

He told them he had spent around 20 months in prison after having sex with a 14 year-old girl who he groomed over Facebook.

He also told them that he had to sign the sex offenders register for life.

A member of Dark Justice said: 'We didn't know that he had been convicted before.

'It wasn't until he told us when we got there that we found out that he was a convicted sex offender.

'It just shows that even if these people have been convicted they may go back online again. They can not always be rehabilitated.

'The day after we caught him he was supposed to be going to sign the sex offenders register. How long had he had that phone for?

'Changes need to be made - it wouldn't take long for his phone to be checked and for probation officers to realise something was going on.

'It is too relaxed and easy for these offenders.'

On the footage which captures the moment Wigham was snared, he admits that last time he was snared when the child's mother read the messages and reported him to the police.

The Dark Justice member added: 'He was speaking to decoys from both teams so we decided to go after him together.

'His parents were there and they were completely mortified by their son's actions.

'They were saying that he usually has to go to the library to use the internet - but they didn't know that he had a secret phone.'