Latest Offenders Maesteg

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A prison officer sexually assaulted a young woman and used fake profiles to abuse her online. Christopher Gould, who worked at HMP Parc in Bridgend, tried to "control, dominate, and sexually abuse" the teenage victim, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

The 45-year-old from Maesteg used a range of fake social media accounts to "befriend" the victim and her friends. Gould was then able to monitor her whereabouts and whom she was with. On one occasion he pretended to be a disgruntled customer at her place of work and used a pseudonym to email a malicious complaint to her employer, which caused her to be fired from her job.

The sexual assault happened following a night out when the victim was feeling "upset and paranoid, thinking she was being stalked" because of the relentless online campaign against her. The person she turned to in her distress was Gould whom she believed to be a caring and trustworthy adult but was in fact the architect of that campaign. After giving her a lift home he sexually assaulted her.

In her personal statement, read out in court, the victim said: “He tried to destroy me and my life. It led to me having a deep mistrust of others – something I worry will take a long time to overcome. I felt sick, I couldn't eat, I would hyperventilate, and went into a downward spiral. It has left me constantly looking over my shoulder for danger... I want Chris to know he loses his power over me. I refuse to allow his twisted, abusive, and controlling behaviours to dictate my future."

Gould, of Cwrt Coed Parc, pleaded guilty to controlling, coercive behaviour and malicious communications. He denied sexual assault but a jury found him guilty. He had no previous convictions though he received a caution for theft in 2016.

His barrister Owen Williams said Gould was a prison officer for seven months. He resigned when the allegations were made and later found employment in insurance but was dismissed from that job following the jury's guilty verdict. Mr Williams added: "Throughout his adult life he has worked consistently. He is living with his parents in their home. He provides care to them because both to some extent are elderly and unwell."

The judge said Gould was "completely obsessed and infatuated" with the young woman, and had tried to "control, dominate, and sexually abuse" her. He imposed a jail term of four years. Gould will serve half that time in custody and the remainder on licence. He must pay a £190 victim services surcharge.

Detective constable Cath Moore of South Wales Police said: “This was a complex case where the victim showed tenacity and courage to come forward and make a complaint. After a prolonged investigation we were able to link the social media and email accounts back to Christopher Gould. It takes tremendous courage and bravery for victims of sexual offences to revisit what are traumatic times in their lives, especially as the offences often remain hidden from family and friends. My message to victims out there is that it is never too late to come forward and report matters. We will fully support you and do everything we can to bring abusers to justice.”

Description

A convicted sex offender breached a court order after a 16-year-old boy was discovered in his house when police were investigating an assault. He admitted the boy had visited his home a number of times as they liked listening to music together.

Martin Tavener, 32, of Maesteg, was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in 2020 after he was found in possession of indecent images of a child under 18. In 2008, he was sentenced to three years and 164 days imprisonment after he was convicted of attempted rape, for which he was made subject to sex offender notification requirements indefinitely. A condition of the SHPO prevented him from having contact with children under 18-years-old

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard police were called to Station Hill, where the defendant lives, on June 18 after there were reports of violence and fighting. They knocked on Tavener's door, a 16-year-old boy answered and the defendant was seen at the top of the stairs.

He was detained and after police ran a check on him it was discovered he was subject to a SHPO. He was arrested and interviewed, with the defendant admitting he had allowed the 16-year-old into his flat and they enjoyed listening to music together.

Tavener later pleaded guilty to breach of a SHPO. Prosecutor Gareth James said the defendant had previously breached the SHPO in 2020 after he was found in the company of 17-year-olds in a graveyard, for which he received 24 weeks imprisonment.

In mitigation, Adam Sharp said there had been an altercation outside his client's home in which the defendant and the youth had suffered injuries. The barrister said Tavener had offered the youth sanctuary in his flat before the boy's mother arrived. He said the defendant had a "traumatic childhood" and has been registered unfit to work since 2010.

Sentencing, the Recorder of Cardiff Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: "You have a fixed view you are not a sex offender, that you pose no risk and the SHPO is not necessary. You were well aware of the terms of the SHPO and you made a deliberate decision to not to obey them. You say you are not guilty of your previous convictions, that you are not a risk to children, that you should not be subject to the order and you choose to breach it."

Tavener was sentenced to one year imprisonment. He will serve half the sentence in custody before he is released to serve the remainder on licence.

Description

A paedophile who pretended to be a 15-year-old girl to coerce teenage boys to engage in online sexual activity has been jailed for four years.

Jamie Hopes was tracked down by officers from South Wales Polices Online Investigation Team, who traced a graphic Tumblr video showing children engaging in sexual acts, to his IP address.

Police executed a warrant at his Maesteg home, which he shared with his parents, on June 5 last year and were told by Hopes: Yes, I know what you are talking about, it will be on my mobile phone.

Officers seized a number of devices, two of which were found to contain more than 50,000 indecent images and videos of children.

The investigation found that 24-year-old Hopes, who was a training sergeant with the Army Cadet Force and regularly worked at family festivals as a registered door supervisor, has also shared a significant amount of the downloaded material with fellow online paedophiles.

Further exacerbating his depraved offending, Hopes also kept a file entitled For Bating in which he kept photos and graphic videos of a teenage girl to deceive boys into thinking he was a young girl.

Some 40 young victims are thought to have been targeted by his deception, the vast majority of whom were coerced in to carrying out sexual acts on film in the belief that they were sending them to a teenage girl.

Hopes previously pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to 15 charges including causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, possession of indecent images of a child, distributing indecent images of child and possession of extreme pornography.

On October 4, he was sent to prison for four years, made subject of a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will prevent him contacting anyone under the age of 18 and impose stringent supervision by police and partner agencies upon his release from prison.

He will also remain on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

Detective Constable Carl Taylor, officer in the case, said: Hopes was prolific in his downloading and sharing of indecent images and videos of children, many of which were of the most extreme category.

This in itself is not a victimless crime real children will have been exploited and will have suffered in order to make that material; abuse which will have a lasting, lifelong impact on them.

Hopes, however, went a step further in order to satisfy his depraved interests. He targeted dozens of teenage boys on popular social networking sites, gaining their trust by pretending to be a girl their own age, and grooming and manipulating them in to engaging in sexual acts.

Our team have not been able to identify all of those affected by Hopes offending, but of those weve managed to trace, all have suffered greatly and the abuse has had a profound effect on them.

I welcome this sentencing, and I hope it provides those victims with some closure and allows them to begin rebuilding their lives.