Latest Offenders Kent

Description

A paedophile who hid behind fake personas in twisted online chats to encourage a teenage girl to send him indecent photos and engage in sex acts ended up losing his marriage and friends.

Canterbury Crown Court heard Andrew Rickards initially posed as a 14-year-old girl with the username 'Amybum' to engage with the victim in January 2022.

Under that guise of being 'Amy from Ashford', the pervert then introduced his second false identity - that of a man of varying ages called 'James' - into his depraved communications.

Having told the 13-year-old that 'James' was 36 and would be "driven crazy" by her, 'Amy' handed over his online account details for the social media platform, Discord.

The younger girl then contacted him, resulting in Rickards, who this time said he was 28 and kept details of his address limited to 'in Kent', indulging in what were described as "sustained and persistent" sexualised conversations over the course of several days.

Undeterred by her age, these included him asking for photos of the victim wearing her school uniform and lifting up her top to reveal her bra, as well as inviting her to join him in bed and be "little spoon".

He also described himself as a "sexual dominant turned on by cute, little girls", the court was told.

Prosecutor Kieran Brand explained how at one stage Rickards posed as both 'Amy' and 'James' in the same online chat, asking if the girl was prepared "to do stuff" and have threesomes with them.

There was even talk of taking her shopping at Ann Summers to buy sex toys.

But the court heard the victim was also hiding her true identity - that of an undercover officer - and with the usernames traced to his home, Rickards was arrested in April that year.

Police seized several devices, including a phone and laptop, on which they found indecent images of children, extreme pornography, and other conversations in which he had used the 'Amybum' profile, claiming to be 14 and to have had sex with both men and children.

Rickards, 39, of Arden Drive, Ashford, later admitted two offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity, six charges of publishing an obscene article and one of possessing an extreme pornograhic image.

He also admitted three charges of making indecent images of a child in respect of 105 stills and 25 moving clips, and depicting abuse across all three categories of seriousness.

James Burke, defending, told the sentencing hearing on Friday, August 23 that as a result of his offending, Rickards had "lost his marriage and lost his friends".

But his assertion that the defendant's "paedophilic interest" was linked to his poor mental health was rejected by Judge Simon Taylor KC.

"It may be convenient for the defendant to identify that link and may assist him in coming to terms with his offending, but on the evidence available before me there is no link whatsoever," he said.

He also dismissed any suggestion that Rickards could not recall his offending, and said any anxiety he was experiencing was "a consequence of being caught".

Jailing him for a total of two years and 10 months, Judge Taylor said the use of two different personas demonstrated "sophisticated and highly manipulative" offending.

Rickards, who had sat in the dock shaking throughout much of the hearing, mouthed the word 'sorry' to his father, who had attended court in support, as he was led away to start his prison sentence.

On release, he will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A “depraved” sex offender who urged a young girl to sexually abuse her two-month-old relative in exchange for £1,000 has been jailed.

Ben Murphy, 31, also approached two girls while they were playing on the swings at a Sittingbourne park and made indecent suggestions to them which led them to run away.

Murphy, of Raite Green, Sonora Fields, Sittingbourne, also fled the scene in February last year but was arrested two days later after police spotted him on CCTV.

He was charged with inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and remanded in custody before a court appearance.

Murphy had already been due to attend court to be sentenced for several sex offences involving children between January 2020 and March 2021.

During this earlier period, he had contacted five separate children who did not know him, on social media platforms. Murphy asked his victims to send images of themselves, some in their underwear and others carrying out sexual acts.

In one conversation he incited a child to abuse their two-month old relative, and offered to pay her £1,000.

‘Murphy is a depraved individual who poses a considerable risk to young children...’

Murphy also sent indecent images and videos of himself to the victims and asked for private calls so he could further engage in sexual abuse. On another occasion in February 2021, he approached a further child in a Sittingbourne park and asked them to carry out a sexual act. The child refused and fled the scene.

Murphy had been arrested for these earlier offences and had pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to six indictments of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and four of possessing indecent images of children. Some of the images were of the most serious category.

As he was awaiting sentencing and subject to strict court bail conditions, he went on to commit the most recent offence when he attended the park near Balas Drive and Sonora Way, Sttingbourne, in February.

He pleaded not guilty to this later offence but was convicted on Friday, following a trial, to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

On Tuesday (August 13) he was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he will have to serve two thirds before he is eligible for parole.

On his release he will have to serve a further two years on licence. Murphy will also have to sign the sex offenders’ register and be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for an indefinite period.

Detective Constable Deniz Aslan said: “Murphy is a depraved individual who poses a considerable risk to young children in person or online. He made vile suggestions and sent indecent images to his vulnerable victims who were very distressed by his actions.”

PC Nadine Stanton, who investigated the most recent incident said: “Murphy showed himself incapable of following restrictions imposed by the court and a prison sentence was the only possible outcome.

“We would like to commend the young victims and their parents who have supported our investigation throughout and assisted us to bring this predator to justice. I hope the prison sentence imposed on Murphy will allow them to start to move on from their ordeal.”

Description

A child sex offender could face another spell behind bars after breaching a court order.

Chrissena Lamar failed to comply with conditions imposed in 2017 after being jailed for a year following a conviction for sexual activity with a child under 14.

The 69-year-old, who was listed as male on court lists but identifies as a woman, had been placed on the sex offenders’ register and told to sign in at a police station once a year.

But the pensioner failed to check in with officers in Dover on March 28 – in breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

It was not the first time Lamar had failed to comply with the strict conditions of the SHPO, having previously been found with a mobile phone police had not been informed about.

Referring to his client as “she” throughout the hearing, Lamar’s solicitor, James Langridge, told the court his client had mental health issues and had previously been in hospital for some time.

He conceded Lamar had not completed the annual registration in March, but argued the matter could be dealt with via a fine.

Deputy District Judge Claire Luxford decided against sentencing Lamar during a hearing at Folkestone Magistrates on July 31.

She instead asked probation to carry out a pre-sentence report, telling officers and Lamar that all punishments would be considered.

She told the defendant: “This offence is aggravated by your previous convictions and I order an all-options report on you, which will include the option of being sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court.”

Lamar, of Park Street, Dover, was granted bail and will next appear at the same court on the morning of October 3.

Description

Recording devices including sunglasses with a built-in camera were amongst the evidence secured by Kent Police officers that led to the conviction of a sex offender from Ashford.

John Gilliver, of Maidstone Road, Charing, admitted multiple offences including voyeurism before being sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday 11 July 2024.

Devices seized

On Sunday 10 July 2022, officers were called to Folkestone Harbour and arrested Gilliver, 62, after he was seen behaving suspiciously and taking photographs on the beach that afternoon.

A pair of sunglasses and a neck chain, capable of recording and storing images, were seized and a search of Gilliver’s home in Charing led to further devices and recording equipment being recovered.

Data downloaded from the devices were found to include indecent images including of children.

The investigation by Kent Police detectives uncovered further offences of voyeurism. Gilliver was found to have secretly installed cameras at the home of a man and a woman he knew, in order to spy on them for purposes of his own gratification.

Gilliver was later charged and pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, voyeurism and possessing an indecent image. He was jailed for a year and eight months and was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A convicted sex offender is back behind bars after he tried to engage children in sexual activity online while he was the subject of a court order.

Alan Morris, formerly of Poundhurst Lane, Ruckinge near Ashford, sent sexualised messages – including images of himself – to someone whom he believed to be a child via an internet chat site in February 2024. Morris stated that he was 65 in his messages and also sent videos of sexual material to his online recipient.

Prevention Order

The conversations were in breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which had been issued to Morris in 2018 after he was found guilty of previous offences. The court order forbade him from accessing the internet without informing the authorities, using devices without specific monitoring software on them and a range of other online activities.

Investigation

Following an investigation by Kent Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT), Morris was arrested on 8 February 2024 - when further examination of his mobile phone uncovered indecent images of children, as well as recent sexual communication. He was charged later the same day.

Morris pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two counts of making indecent images of a child and distributing an indecent image of a child.

He further admitted attempting to cause a girl to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to look at sexual activity, and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child - relating to offences also uncovered by POLIT, when Morris believed he was communicating with a child in October 2023.

Jailed

On Monday 1 July, Morris was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court to six years in prison - including a year’s imprisonment for breach of an SHPO - with four years to serve on licence upon his release.

Description

A pervert simulated a sex act while menacing a terrified student waiting for a train at Canterbury West station.

For over an hour, and captured on CCTV throughout, Damien Olubek subjected his victim, who he did not know, to what was described as being among the "greatest fears" for a lone female traveller.

The 21-year-old repeatedly asked the woman for kisses and hugs, poked, squeezed and touched her arm and leg, and tried to pull her hand towards his crotch area as he performed his lewd act.

He had even followed her from a bench outside the station where he had first troubled her and onto a platform, where a member of the public eventually came to her aid and alerted station staff.

Olubek, who lives in Margate High Street, then tried to avoid being identified by telling an officer his name was 'Steven Gerrard' before fleeing.

But although it was said on his behalf at Canterbury Crown Court that the touching of the victim was not in itself sexual, Judge Mark Weekes remarked that the "aggressive, humiliating and frightening" behaviour could not be merely regarded as the actions of what is colloquially termed a "sex pest".

Sentencing Olubek on June 26, the judge told him: "The victim was subjected to what must have been for her a very distressing and alarming ordeal, lasting over an hour, in which you engaged in behaviour which sometimes, erroneously in my opinion, is referred to as acting like a sex pest.

Description

A "depraved" physiotherapist who convinced his patients to take off their clothes for what he claimed were necessary treatments has been put behind bars for six years. Purnoor Bawa, 44, told the women that removing their clothing was a standard procedure required to treat their injuries.

However, once they were undressed, Bawa would proceed to sexually assault them, touching areas unrelated to their treatment, said police. Labelled as a 'danger to women', he exploited seven women across a span of five years. Bawa denied eight counts of sexual assault but was found guilty after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court and received a six-year sentence on Friday (June 14).

The court was informed that in December 2018, Kent Police responded to an incident at Bawa's workplace in Gravesend where he had reportedly conducted an inappropriate massage on a patient being treated for an ankle injury. At that time, Bawa was already under restrictions to work only with a chaperone present due to ongoing investigations by the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) into his conduct.

An earlier hearing by an HCPTS tribunal panel revealed that Bawa, during sessions with a woman recovering from a car accident, asked her to take off her bra and massaged her breasts without any clothing. Feeling "groomed" after the encounter, the woman reported Bawa to the authorities. Bawa, who moved to the UK from India in 2003, had worked with various NHS Trusts from 2005 until 2018.

In 2017, he started his own private practice, offering physiotherapy services in Gravesend and Dartford. After the December 2018 incident, Bawa was arrested and was later released while further enquiries were underway. These included revisiting two previous reports against Bawa which, at the time, hadn't met the evidential threshold for prosecution.

By April of the following year, five women had stepped forward. Detailed investigations into each case provided enough evidence to charge Bawa. Kent Police's press release on the charges prompted two additional victims to report offences Bawa had committed against them.

Despite denying eight counts of sexual assault, Bawa was convicted after a trial and received a six-year prison sentence last week. Detective Constable Peter Hylands, the officer in charge of the investigation, said that Bawa's victims' testimonies clearly showed he "belongs behind bars".

Hylands stated: "Purnoor Bawa manipulated and groomed his victims, making them think his actions were justified when in reality he was taking advantage of them for his own depraved ends. Each offence was committed in the privacy of Bawa's treatment room where there were no independent witnesses, CCTV cameras or any other forms of evidence."

The detective also highlighted the bravery of the victims: "It is therefore almost entirely down to the courage of each victim and their strength in numbers that we were able to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Bawa had sexually assaulted them. He has shown that not only is he unfit to practice as a physiotherapist, but he is also a danger to women and belongs behind bars."

Description

A registered sex offender who breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) multiple times has been jailed.

Graham Robinson, from Faversham, was convicted at Canterbury Crown Court in 2018 of possessing indecent images of children and was made subject to strict conditions on his behaviour.

These included restrictions around his access to mobile phones or computers and his use of the internet.

He was also required to notify the police of any devices and bank accounts he possessed and allow his devices to be examined whenever it was requested.

The SHPO also required Robinson to install monitoring software on his phone and other internet-enabled devices, to allow officers to check he was not committing further offences or breaching the conditions imposed by the court.

Between 2020 and 2022, investigators completed unannounced visits to Robinson’s home and discovered multiple breaches.

On one occasion, a smartphone was recovered at his property that he claimed belonged to a friend.

When the officers called the number they had had for Robinson the phone rang and it was seized.

Two phones and two internet-enabled devices that he hadn’t declared were recovered during a further inspection and investigators found Robinson had been using software to wipe his phone and computer.

In February 2022, Robinson was arrested and officers located a tablet, multiple USB drives and other storage devices at his home.

They also found he had several bank cards and accounts he had not disclosed.

During the search, the constables seized a flick knife and a credit card that concealed three blades.

The devices seized from Robinson were forensically examined and found to contain more than 460,000 images.

A proportion of the content was reviewed, and officers discovered 138 indecent images of children.

Eight were of the most serious category. There was also evidence of 23 extreme pornographic images.

Robinson, of Beech Close, was later charged and, at Maidstone Crown Court pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child, three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, seven counts of breaching his sexual harm prevention order, three counts of failing to comply with notification requirements of the sex offenders register and having an offensive weapon in a private place.

Today (Thursday, June 13) the 66-year-old was sentenced to three years in jail.

He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will remain in place for 15 years and was also added to the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely.

Detective constable Jamie Easdown, of the Swale offender management unit, said: “We regularly visit registered sex offenders living in our communities to monitor their conduct and ensure they are complying with any conditions in place to prevent further crimes. We install software on their devices to monitor activity online and will promptly complete searches at home addresses if we suspect further offences.

“In this way, we endeavour to protect the most vulnerable in our community and, where any breaches are discovered, they will be arrested and brought back before the court to answer for their actions.”

Description

A registered sex offender who continued to target young girls online has been jailed.

Police were alerted to Alfie Murray’s reoffending after receiving a report from a girl last October about indecent messages she had received from a man online.

Investigators identified Murray, who is from Medway, as the offender with the usernames KLOWN.7010 and ALFIEMILWALL85.

He had asked for indecent images, made threats and caused the victim considerable distress until she blocked him from contacting her.

Murray was convicted on June 1, 2022, of sex offences involving children and was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

This had a number of conditions which included notifying the police if he took possession of an internet-enabled device or had any unsupervised communication with a child aged under 16.

He also had to make his devices available for inspection by a police officer and allow monitoring software to be installed.

“Murray has exhibited a willingness to breach the conditions of his court order and subject further children to his appalling obscene conduct…”

Murray was arrested on January 4 this year and when officers searched his house they recovered undeclared internet-enabled devices and proof he had been contacting many other children.

Murray, of Queens Road, Gillingham, was charged and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to six counts of breaching his SHPO, one count of breaching his sex offender notification requirements and one count of communicating sexually with a child.

The 32-year-old was sentenced last Thursday (May 30) to three years’ imprisonment.

This included the activation of a suspended sentence and he will have to serve 18 months in prison with the remainder to be completed on licence.

PC Leona Valsler, of the Medway Offender Management Unit, said: “We regularly visit registered sex offenders who are subject to court orders and notification requirements, to monitor their behaviour and prevent them committing further crimes.

“We also install software on their phones and computers to monitor activity online and will make unannounced visits at their home addresses to check their compliance.

“Murray has exhibited a willingness to breach the conditions of his court order and subject further children to his appalling obscene conduct. He has shown himself to be entirely untrustworthy and the court has quite rightly sent him to prison.”

Description

A 58-year-old man who sexually assaulted a young child over a three-year period has been jailed.

Anthony Jarrett, of Maple Close, Larkfield in Kent, previously admitted four charges of sexual assault.

The abuse, which took place in the south of Lincolnshire, related to a single victim, Lincolnshire Police said.

Jarrett was jailed for 10 years and 10 months at a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

A restraining order was also imposed.

Description

A Metropolitan Police officer granted anonymity at a misconduct hearing despite being a convicted sex offender has finally been named and shamed.

PC Alex Law, 43, was pictured for the first time after his brave victim - who was under the age of 10 - came forward to speak of her two decades of fear and shame.

Law, then 15, twice indecently assaulted the girl who had been out playing in woods near his hometown of Hexham, Northumberland - 20 miles west of Newcastle - in 1996.

Law then secured a job with the Met any years later and hid his dark secret.

But in December 2022, the victim finally decided she had suffered in silence for too long and reported him to Northumbria Police.

Controversially, Law was allowed to remain anonymous at a Scotland Yard misconduct hearing on April 25 – three days after being sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment at Newcastle Crown Court.

Known only as Officer A, the force said he had pleaded guilty to two charges of indecently assaulting a female under the age of 14. Law was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

In an interview, the victim told The Journal newspaper in Newcastle: “He’s ruined my life. I could have been somebody so different.”

While Law got on with his life as a respected custody officer in London, hers spiralled downwards and she struggled to cope.

She said: “Growing up I felt like I was a weirdo, I felt dirty.

“He made me hate myself. I have made some not great life choices and been in some violent relationships because of him.”

The woman claimed Law sent her a picture of himself in his Met uniform, which encouraged her to come forward and speak up about “monster Alex” to protect other women.

Law, of Cedar Drive in Dartford, Kent and attached to Met Detention, was dismissed without notice by Assistant Commissioner Pippa Mills.

Law apologised and recognised it would be unlikely he would ever have been a police officer if the circumstances were known at the time.

Northumbria Police Detective Constable Phil Trotter, who led the investigation, said on Tuesday: “This conviction was only possible because of the bravery shown by the victim.

“She found the courage to speak out and trusted that our officers would listen and fully investigate what happened.

“I hope her brave actions act as an inspiration to other victims, who may feel it is too late to report historic abuse.

“It is never too late to come forward, and as a Force, we are committed to supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice.”

Met Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox added: “I am grateful to Northumbria Police for their investigation.

“He is now serving a prison sentence and has rightly been swiftly dismissed from the Met.

“We remain committed to ensuring those who are not fit to police are removed from the organisation.”

Description

A South London paedophile gripped a copy of George Orwell's 1984 after he admitted asking an undercover police officer to perform oral sex on him - believing they were a 13-year-old girl. Alex Parsons appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday (May 10) where he confessed to four child sex offences after a sting by the Metropolitan Police in February this year.

The 37-year-old from Parish Gate Drive, Sidcup, held his head in his hands before entering court, then stood in the dock wearing a grey plaid suit and thick glasses he pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, two counts of attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, and one count of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard he communicated with an undercover cop - posing as a 13-year-old child called Chloe - between February 20 and 22 this year, during which time he sent 'messages of a sexual nature'.

The perverted bookworm also sent a photo of his genitals and a sexual video and he asked her to perform a sex act on him, the court was told.

Orwell's novel 1984 is a book that features the Thought Police, a secret police force acting for Oceania, a fictional superstate which controls almost every aspect of the characters' lives.

Thought Police are tasked with finding and punishing thoughtcrimes (personal and political thoughts not approved by the regime), often working undercover to lure out criminals.

On Friday, defence counsel Mark Stevens said his client was of previous good character had already signed notification requirements for sex offenders. Parsons was previously granted bail by the magistrates, who ordered that he be monitored on a curfew between 10pm and 5am and is only allowed a single mobile phone.

Judge Charlotte Welsh ordered an 'all options' pre-sentence report, and granted Parsons conditional bail ahead of his sentence on July 12. Parsons said 'Thank you very much' as he left the dock, then later walked out the courthouse holding a copy of the dystopian novel.

Description

A “dangerous” man who subjected a woman to a degrading and humiliating sexual assault has been jailed for 15 years.

Leon Walmsley carried out the attack within just a few months of his release from prison in August 2022, with a judge telling the 25-year-old he was “disturbed” by the escalation in his offending.

His victim suffered multiple bruises to her head and body, as well as severe psychological harm, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Walmsley, of Hertford Place, Ramsgate, admitted a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm but denied assault by penetration, only to be convicted by a jury.

The court heard that having struck his victim repeatedly with an item, causing it to break, he then used it to sexually assault her.

At his sentencing hearing on April 5, a victim impact statement described how the woman had been left "terrified and paranoid" by her ordeal.

Jailing Walmsley, Recorder David Elvin KC told him he was considered a "dangerous" offender in law and would have to serve at least two-thirds of his prison term before being considered for release.

Once freed, he will then have a further three years added to any licence period.

Recorder Elvin said Walmsley, who had been offending since he was 18 and twice recalled to prison while on licence for a previous conviction, had not only shown an "inability and unwillingness to learn from his past" but also demonstrated "a failure to realise he has serious issues".

Recorder Elvin's observations of how Walmsley had presented himself at trial and to the author of his pre-sentence report were just as scathing.

Describing him as "deceitful" and a significant risk to the public, he said: "At the end of the interview you asked the author whether you had 'said the right things', suggesting your account may not have reflected your true feelings but what you believed would create a good impression.

"You gave evidence in a very calm, very controlled and very polite manner, seeking to gain favour with the jury."

On his release from prison, Walmsley will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements.

Description

A man who subjected two children to repeated sexual abuse during the 1980s and 1990s has been jailed.

Bernard High, of Rochester, was convicted of 16 offences, including indecent assault and gross indecency.

His crimes were initially reported to Kent Police in September 2018 and he was arrested on 17 November the same year.

At Maidstone Crown Court, the 67-year-old was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

High, of Jenner Road, denied the offences and the case went to trial, where he was found guilty on all counts.

He was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment and added to the sex offenders register for life.

Det Sgt Rachael Cheney said High was a despicable individual who targeted the vulnerable victims.

The crimes committed by High have had a long-lasting impact on their lives and I hope they can now move forward in the knowledge that their abuser is serving a considerable prison sentence, she said.

Description

A paedophile who sexually abused a teenager has been jailed for more than two years.

Clinton Woodcock, from Chatham, had previously denied the offences but was found guilty by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court on March 14.

He was convicted on three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child aged 13 to 15, and one count of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged 13 to 15.

Woodcock, of Eden Avenue, committed the offences in Gillingham between 2016 and 2018.

The 50-year-old sex offender was also charged with two counts of voyeurism in 2021 and admitted those offences.

Woodcock was jailed for two years and 10 months and handed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.

He was also added to the sex offenders’ register for life.