Latest Offenders Kent

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.

Description

A convicted sex offender has been jailed again after he was found using his phone to send explicit messages to a child.

Former East Malling resident, David Knight, used social media apps to befriend the young boy and made repeated attempts to meet the victim on his own. 

Knight, 46, was previously sentenced in 2005 to more than six years’ imprisonment, for offences relating to the sexual abuse of children.

He was convicted under his former name of David Thomas and added to the sex offenders register, for life.

Name change

Upon his release from prison, he changed his name to David Knight and became the subject of new allegations made to Kent Police in August 2022.

An investigation established Knight had been communicating with a child by using internet platforms including TikTok.

Posting under the profile name of FireKnight2017, he sent several inappropriate and explicit messages, and expressed a desire to be with the child on their own.

Knight was arrested on 16 August. A police analysis of his phone found searches on the internet including ‘nude junior archives’ and ‘kids’ nudists chase game’.

Sentenced

He was charged with attempting to meet a child following grooming and with failing to comply with a notification requirement (relating to the sex offenders register).

Knight pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court, where a further offence of engaging in sexual communication with a child was ordered to lie on file.

On Tuesday 19 March 2024, Knight, of no fixed address, was jailed for four years and one month. He will have to serve two thirds of the sentence before he can apply for parole.

Upon his release from prison, Knight will be the subject of an additional licence period of three years, as well as a sexual harm prevention order and restraining order, both for 10 years. 

Description

A paedophile carried out a series of sexual assaults on vulnerable young girls over several decades. Dennis Yarr subjected his victims to sickening attacks leaving them suicidal, depressed and unable to feel safe around men.

The offences committed by Yarr spanned several decades and included luring a young girl into his car, sexually touching another child and forcing another to sit on his lap and perform a sex act.

A hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday, March 20 heard Yarr, who is Scottish and was working as a bus and taxi driver in the Vale of Glamorgan, accused his victims of lying before being found guilty of indecent assault and indeceny with a child at trial in February this year. Judge Timothy Petts said Yarr had shown "no remorse" for his actions and described him as "manipulative and predatory".

The court heard Yarr, 63, of Dunstan Avenue in Westage-on-Sea, Kent, carried out a series of disgusting attacks on a young girl in the 1990s. This included touching inside her underwear and on one occasion penetrating her. He then told his victim not to tell anyone in order to prevent her from reporting the ordeal.

A statement on behalf of the victim said Yarr's attacks had meant she "grew up feeling let down and disappointed" and had "affected her choices in life", adding that she still struggled with mental health issues and had been left traumatised by it taking 10 years for the offences to be brought to light. The victim said what happened had "ruined my childhood years", adding: "Every time I hear a Scottish accent, smell whiskey and see a man with a moustache it makes me think of my abuser." She said she had self-harmed as a result of Yarr's actions and had been admitted to hospital and had been "petrified" at the idea of giving evidence at his trial.

Yarr was also found to have indecently assaulted another girl in the 1990s by encouraging her to get into his car before asking her to sit on his lap while he drove, at which point he proceeded to touch her crotch area. A statement read on behalf of the victim said what happened had left her with trust issues as an adult, only being comfortable leaving her child with close family members, wary of men and feeling unsafe taking taxis unless she sat in the back seat. She said years later that she felt "anxious, overwhelmed and distressed" when the case came to court and suffered from PTSD, and that Yarr's conviction had "given [her] closure" to move on with her life.

The court also heard Yarr had carried out another offence on a girl when he was a teenager in the 1970s by getting her to sit on his lap and perform a sex act. He later pleaded guilty to indecent assault and was given a conditional discharge. A statement read on behalf of his victim said what had happened had been "difficult to deal with" and resulted in her trying to take her own life. She said it had affected her trust in men and made her struggle in relationships even into her adult life.

South Wales Police began investigating Yarr after one of his victims came forward. He was arrested in Margate, Kent, in December 2020 and two more victims later came forward. Yarr was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child following a week-long trial at Cardiff Crown Court last month.

David Pernell, defending, said his client had no submissions in relation to the offences and that there had been "no change" to the position he took during trial. He said Yarr was in poor health for a man in his 60s and suffered from COPD and diabetes, adding that he had "come to court to accept his fate carrying a cocktail of prescription medication" from his GP. He summarised a letter by Yarr's partner of 18 years who said he had been "very supportive of her mental health issues" and that she would "keenly miss that support" if he went to prison.

Judge Timothy Petts said Yarr had caused "severe psychological harm" to his victims and that there was "very little" to mitigate what he had done. He said it was noted that the defendant "showed no remorse" and was "manipulative and predatory" in how he carried out the attacks and tried to prevent his victims from reporting what had happened.

Yarr was sentenced to seven years in prison and an additional year on licence. He will become eligible for parole after two thirds of his prison term has passed and will be registered as a sex offender for life. He was also banned from working with children or vulnerable adults and a sexual harm prevention order was made.

After the sentencing, Investigate Assistant Steve Gunney from South Wales Police said: “Dennis Yarr’s actions have had a devastating effect on the three women.

“But thanks to their bravery and a thorough investigation, he has been brought to justice. He has shown no remorse and during cross examination, claimed that the three women were lying and had plotted together to make false allegations."

"South Wales Police takes all reports of sexual violence extremely seriously and it is never too late to report a crime. Help and support is available for all victims of sexual violence, and we would encourage any victims; no matter how long ago the offence happened, to please come forward.”

Description

A sex offender has appeared in court again and admitted sharing indecent images of children on social media.

Police raided John Daly’s home in Thanet after the disturbing clips were retweeted from an account on X – formerly known as Twitter – connected to his address.

When officers searched the 58-year-old’s home they found category B and C images on his phone, as well as a prohibited image of children.

Daly, of Manston Road, Ramsgate, was later charged with two counts of distributing indecent photographs, two counts of downloading indecent images and one count of being in possession of a prohibited image of a child.

He admitted all of the offences when he appeared before magistrates in Folkestone on March 12.

The court heard when police searched Daly’s home they found he had shared a category B image online on May 16 last year, and had also shared 24 category C images between May 7 and May 22.

A total of 125 indecent images – five category B and 126 category C – had also been downloaded on May 30, and Daly was also found to be in possession of the prohibited image.

Rajni Prashar prosecuting said: “He’s a registered sex offender and has previous convictions for indecent images.

“The indecent images were on Twitter (now X) and were in a direct message but had been retweeted as videos by this account, and the address connected to it matched him.

“The images were found on his mobile phone and he also had a prohibited image of children which showed children in bikinis and swimsuits, and he had used a public Twitter account.

“He was convicted of having indecent images in 2010 and 2014 and he also failed to comply with notification requirements [as a sex offender] in 2022.”

Magistrates decided the offences were so serious they sent Daly’s case to Canterbury Crown Court for sentencing.

He was granted bail until the hearing – a date for which has yet to be set.

Description

A sex offender has been jailed after targeting teenagers in Tenterden in November 2023.

On Friday 3 November and Monday 6 November 2023, Joseph Kemp, 33, approached teenage girls in the Ashford Road area of the town and made inappropriate comments to them.

Investigation

The girls reported the incidents and, following an investigation by the East Kent Vulnerability Investigation Team, Kemp was charged on Thursday 9 November.

Kemp, of Tenterden Road, Cranbrook, pleaded guilty to two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Jailed

He was sentenced to three years and seven months’ imprisonment at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday 14 March 2024.

Description

A sex offender from Whitstable has been jailed after admitting to a series of online offences.

Detectives from Kent Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) led an investigation in which charges were brought against James Clark, of Victoria Street, who carried out his crimes between December 2020 and January 2024.

Multiple crimes

Clark was charged with multiple offences, including nine counts of attempting sexual communication with a child; three counts of attempting to make a child watch a sexual act; three counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity; three counts of publishing an obscene article and making and distributing indecent images of children.

Sentenced

After pleading guilty, Clark, 26, was sentenced to five and a half years’ imprisonment at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday 8 March.

He was also made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

Following an investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) a 38-year-old man has been jailed for a sex offence and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Michael McGee, of King Street, Ramsgate, Kent was jailed for six years and eight months on at Reading Crown Court on Thursday (7/3).

He pleaded guilty to one count each of arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Between November and December last year, McGee was communicating online with a girl who he believed was 12 years old. He sent sexually explicit messages and arranged to meet her in person.

He also breached the conditions of a SHPO by factory resetting one of his devices.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Lisa Betchley, of SEROCU, said: SEROCU takes sexual offending extremely seriously.

McGee contacted and arranged to meet someone he believed to be underage. Thankfully no children were in danger, however McGees intentions were clear.

Further, due to the risk that he was deemed to pose because of previous offending, he was made subject to a SHPO meaning that he had to abide by certain conditions. He breached one of those conditions. Such breaches are not taken lightly, and he has been sentenced accordingly.

Description

A sex offender from Gravesend who targeted a child has been jailed for more than five years.

Terry Knott, 32, was jailed at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday 5 March 2024 after he admitted three charges of sexual activity with a child.

Knott was arrested in December 2023, after Kent Police received an allegation he had committed the offences over the preceding two months.

As well as being jailed for five years and three months, Knott was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.

Description

A sex offender from Sidcup has been jailed after targeting a child for two years.

Danny Mackney subjected his young victim to countless instances of sexual abuse between 2018 and 2020.

Mackney, of Harman Drive, groomed his victim before bombarding them with sexually explicit messages and images, demanding they then send some in return.

He was arrested in November 2020 and pleaded not guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to two counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of making indecent images of a child.

Mackney was convicted following a trial and sentenced on Friday, January 26, 2024, to four years and six months’ imprisonment.

The 37-year-old will also be subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A man from Kent has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to directing the sexual abuse of young children around the world.

Matthew Bower, aged 52, from Swanley, was identified by National Crime Agency officers after information was received by the FBI that a man from the UK had been paying for images of a young girl being sexually abused.

The victim, a 15 year old girl, spoke to police officers in the US in early August 2017 and told them she had been sexually abused by a female family member for a number of months. She stated that the abuse was photographed and the images were being sent to a man in the UK for various sums of money.

Officers from the FBI arrested the woman and she provided them with an email address, username and Paypal details of the man she had taken the photographs for.

This information was sent to officers at the NCA who were able to identify Bower.

He was arrested on the 22 August 2017 on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children and arranging & facilitating the commission of a child sex offence. Officers searched his house and a number of devices were seized.

Upon examination of the devices, chat logs were recovered which showed Bower using the username evo5_mat - telling the woman what he wanted her to do to the victim. In some of the chat, he says OK KINDA LIKE TO SEE BOTH OF U PICS, SO MAYBE WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW IS SHE FREE and then SENT U 80 SO EXPECT A LOT.

NCA investigators identified that she had sent Bower 308 images of herself with the victim, as well as two live-streamed videos between 2016 and 2017. Financial records showed that over a six year period, Bower had sent her approximately 6,000, the majority in return for the abuse material.

NCA officers also found additional chat logs and online conversations where Bower was actively encouraging others to sexually abuse young children.

They also identified a woman in Romania who had been abusing a child under the age of two, as directed by Bower. Information was shared with international law enforcement partners and the woman was arrested in August 2018. She was convicted in December 2019 of rape and child abuse offences and is currently serving more than eight years in prison.

Bower had also been contacting a number of children online via Skype, encouraging them to send him naked photos and perform sexual acts on camera. Two girls, aged 8 and 15, from the United States were identified as having been coerced by Bower into sending indecent images. Both have since been safeguarded by the US authorities.

He initially told officers he had been the victim of hacking, but in October 2023, pleaded guilty to 15 offences including causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and making over 1,700 indecent images of children, including category A images.

Jen Cruickshank, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA, said:

Bower is clearly a dangerous individual who has a depraved sexual interest in children. For a significant period of time he actively sought people online both adults and children whom he could coerce into sending him abuse material for his sexual gratification.

Id like to pay tribute to the victims who bravely spoke about the abuse they had suffered. The initial victim report was the catalyst for this investigation and ultimately led to us being able to identify Bower and ensure further victims were safeguarded.

The NCA is dedicated to protecting children and disrupting the highest harm offenders wherever they are in the world. Collaboration with our international colleagues is imperative in achieving this.

Sentencing him at Croydon Crown Court today (25 January) HHJ Lowe gave Bower an extended sentence, saying he had no hesitation in concluding you are dangerous.

The offences Bower pleaded guilty to were committed between 2008 and 2017.

Description

A jailed sex offender from Whitstable will serve a further prison term after a new investigation uncovered crimes that took place almost sixty years ago.

On 10 May 2022 and whilst in prison, Graham Kemp, previously of Gosselin Street, Whitstable, was charged with six new counts of indecent assault, one count of unlawful sex with a girl under 13 years old and one count of rape.

Previous sentence

Kemp, 76, had previously been sentenced in 2018 to five years and three months in prison, for committing a number of sex offences between the late 1990s and 2004. Those offences included the indecent assault of a young girl and indecency with a child.

After Kemp’s original conviction, further victims came forward and Kent Police began a complex investigation into reports of child sexual assault and rape that dated back to the 1960s.

New conviction

Kemp was sentenced to a further 21 years in prison on 5 January 2024, following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court.

Description

A Chatham sex offender who offered money to children he groomed and abused has been jailed for 13 years.

Matthew Lockwood used social media apps to target and manipulate teenage boys as young as 13.

Lockwood, of Edgewater on St Mary’s Island, accessed online platforms including Snapchat and Grindr during a campaign of abuse between 2016 and 2023.

He was arrested in February 2023 and an investigation linked the 47-year-old to a catalogue of offences, which included sexual activity with at least four children.

At Canterbury Crown Court, Lockwood pleaded guilty to 22 counts. These included charges of sexual activity with a child, paying for sexual services of a child, sexual exploitation of a child, and sexual communications with a child. He also admitted offences relating to the possession and distribution of thousands of illegal images of children, many in the most serious category and which included videos of some of the victims he had contact with.

Lockwood was sentenced on Friday 12 January 2024 to 13 years in jail. He was added to the Sex Offenders' Register for life and handed a 15 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A Swanley man found guilty of more than a dozen child sex offences has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Luke Wallace was responsible for a catalogue of repeated abuse, including multiple rapes, and used threats to ensure his young victim didn’t tell anyone.

Allegations of abuse were first made to Kent Police on 14 June 2022, and Wallace was arrested the same day.

An investigation by the West Kent Child Protection Team established he had persistently targeted the victim, over a period spanning between three and four years.

Following his arrest, several devices belonging to Wallace were seized. These included a mobile phone, which officers discovered had a secure folder and contained illegal images of children.

Denial

During police interviews, Wallace dismissed all the allegations. He also denied taking or downloading the images found on his phone and said it must have been down to ‘someone else’.

At Wood Green Crown Court, Wallace, 36, pleaded not guilty to a total of 16 child sex offences and the case went to trial.

He was found guilty of four counts of rape, four counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of sexual assault.

Wallace was also convicted of four charges which related to making and taking indecent images of a child. A jury returned a verdict of not guilty for a further two counts of rape.

Dangerous

Wallace was deemed by Judge Alexander Jacobs to be a ‘dangerous’ offender. On Monday 18 December 2023, he received an extended sentence of 17 years’ imprisonment with an additional four years on licence.

He must serve at least two thirds of the custodial sentence before he can apply for parole. He was also added to the sex offenders' register, indefinitely.