Latest Offenders Liverpool

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A 20-YEAR-OLD man who committed a series of sexual assaults on vulnerable young girls has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Christopher McCain from Skipton Road, Huyton, pleaded guilty to the assaults against children in St Helens town centre in the summer of 2015.

A judge at Liverpool Crown Court ruled he must serve four years and eight months in prison.

McCain was also given a six-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and will remain on the Sex Offenders' Register for his lifetime.

Speaking afterwards, Detective Sergeant Jim Starkey, of St Helens CID said: "Today's sentence should send out a very clear message to paedophiles that sexual activity with children will be dealt with extremely seriously.

"Christopher McCain is a predatory offender who repeatedly took advantage of vulnerable young girls, which has resulted in severe psychological impact on his victims.

I would like to praise the victims for their immense bravery in giving evidence to help secure justice and has been supported every step of the way by the police and our partners.

I would urge other victims of sexual offences, whether they are historic or otherwise, to not suffer in silence and instead tell someone what has happened to them.

The force is committed to the protection and wider safeguarding issues of children. In doing so we view the abuse of any child as unacceptable and will work with partner agencies to investigate and where possible prevent such abuse.

We all have a duty of care to protect young people from harm and I would encourage parents, grandparents, teachers, health professionals, social services and any other adults to take a little time to better educate themselves about online safety and child sexual exploitation.

Merseyside Police has a great website called www.listentomystory.co.uk which highlights these issues from young peoples perspectives and also shows where you can get help if you have any concerns about any child you know.

"It helps victims to find the right kind of support and advice if they have suffered abuse in the past. It also has loads of information for young people to help them if they think they are being exploited, or if they are worried one of their friends may be.

Anyone who would like to report a sexual offence or anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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A paedophile who subjected a young girl to a decade-long campaign of sexual abuse was jailed.

Toxteth man Stephen Furmedge, 52, preyed on his victim, who was between the ages of three and 12, through the late 1970s and 1980s.

But she was not the first child who had her life destroyed by the sick pervert.

He had already been jailed in 1989 for raping a young girl and a young boy, and sexually abusing another girl when he was living in Kirkby and had also been convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl in the early 1970s.

Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, said that some of the girls earliest memories were of being abused by Furmedge including him kissing her on the lips when she was just three.

The abuse happened weekly over the years and at one point he even tried to rape her when another girl was sharing a double bed with her.

She said the last time he tried to make a pass at her she was 12 and better able to stop him.

The victim said she knew what was happening to the other children, crimes for which Furmedge served nine years after they reported it, but didnt tell police at the time.

Furmedge denied all the accusations but was found guilty by a jury of nine counts of sexual assault, nine of indecency with a child and five of attempted rape.

Judge Andrew Hatton, sentencing, said if Furmedge was being sentenced under todays laws he would have jailed him for life but because he had to be sentenced under the law of the day the maximum he could sentence him to was seven years in jail and he did so.

He added that if the judge sentencing Furmedge in the 1980s knew the full extent of his crimes then he probably would have sentenced him to life as well.

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A DANGEROUS child abuser took pictures of young girls in sexual poses so he could swap them with other paedophiles on the internet.

Karl Torgersen's crimes were uncovered after a European paedophile ring was cracked by German police and photos they uncovered were tracked back to Liverpool. Torgersen, 41, was arrested with his partner Joanne Roberts, 38, at their home on Churchway Road, Speke, last September.

His computer was confiscated and photographs of him abusing girls were found on the hard drive.

Torgersen pleaded guilty to more than 60 charges including sexual assault, taking an indecent picture of a child and distributing indecent images of a child.

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said Torgersen was motivated to fulfil his "perverted ends".

His excuse that he was "objectively" investigating online paedophilia after being abused as a child were dismissed as "classic denial".

Torgersen was jailed for eight years and eight months, of which he will serve a minimum of two-thirds, after being labelled a dangerous offender. He was given an extended licence period of 14 years.

Joanne Roberts pleaded guilty to less serious sexual assaults and charges related to indecent images.

She was jailed for two years and seven months.

The judge said: "You were present and played your part."