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George Croudace, who had fostered children for 32 years with his wife, has been jailed for sexually assaulting three youngsters. 

To the outside world, George Croudace was a good, kind man who had fostered children for decades - but today he can be unmasked as a paedophile “monster” who was living a lie.

Former trade union leader Croudace and his wife had been taking in youngsters at their home in North Shields for 32 years.

But the 71-year-old’s double life as a secret pervert can now be revealed after he was jailed for sexually assaulting three youngsters and downloading vile child abuse images.

The victims - not children he had fostered - were as young as five when he abused them, with one of them claiming it happened hundreds of times.

When the youngsters revealed to their mums that “every parent’s worst nightmare” had come true, police moved in.

And when they checked his computers they found he had also downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children as young as two.

Now Croudace has been locked up for nine-and-a-half years at Newcastle Crown Court for three counts of sexual assault and three of making indecent pictures of a child.

The mum-of-two of the victims said in a statement read to the court: “Despite having no energy left, wild horses could not stop me being here without shame and making him hear what he has done.

“My daughter had very little confidence. I never knew why this was. She had always been nervous around men. I never knew why this was.

“Then with the words that came out of her mouth, it was every parent’s worst nightmare. She had been sexually abused.”

She added of Croudace: “He was a foster carer of vulnerable children. He was always around children.”

The woman said she is worried about the effect the abuse will have in later life.

She said: “They were stripped of their innocence as young children in a way no-one should ever have to experience.

“My kids are amazing and deserve to be loved and protected. He stripped them of their innocence.

“How do you put into words how something like this affects someone?”

She added: “He suddenly became a monster.”

The woman said the abuse has affected her mental wellbeing and she feels a sense of failure for not protecting the victims.

But the defiant mum added: “He will not destroy our lives. We are good, kind, loving people. We are better than him.”

The mum of another victim said in her victim impact statement: “Since the incident she has been very withdrawn and reluctant to be left with any male adults.

“She refuses to go to the toilet on her own. Talking through it is very traumatic, she becomes very emotional.

“She only knows it was bad and something an adult should not do to a child.”

The woman said Croudace was aware her daughter had suffered serious health problems.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Muir said the abuse came to light when one girl, aged around eight, said Croudace had done “rude things to her”.

A boy, aged five or six, also said Croudace had been touching him sexually.

Miss Muir said: “He said it happened hundreds of times.”

The third victim said he had touched her sexually on one occasion when she was four or five and it hurt.

After his arrest, police seized four laptops from Croudace.

They found 225 of the most serious, category A, images, 16 category A videos, 194 category B images, eight category B videos, 313 category C images and three category C videos.

Miss Muir said: “The age range of the children in all of the videos and images was two to 14 years old.

“There was evidence of systematic searching for key words linked to indecent images of children. These related to both web searches and peer to peer application searches.

“At least one image dated back to 2007.”

Croudace, of no fixed address, who has no previous convictions, made no reply when interviewed by police.

Jailing Croudace and imposing lifelong sex offender registration and a sexual harm prevention order, recorder Eric Elliott QC told him: “Until August 2016 you presented as a hard-working respectable member of the community, much admired for your work as a trade union leader and a foster carer for many years with your wife in relation to many young children.

“In fact, from about 2007, you were living a lie and presenting a completely false impression to the outside world.”

The judge said he accepted Croudace’s downloading of indecent images between 2007 and 2015 was “relatively sporadic” and most of it took place in 2015 and 2016.

He added: “I accept at the time you were suffering a depressive illness which reached its height in 2015 and 2016.

“But of course those matters were no excuse for what you did, certainly no excuse for what happened in relation to (the children).

“Your conduct has left a trail of devastation.

“These are clearly extremely serious charges which call for a substantial prison sentence, notwithstanding your previous good character, remorse and the content of various medical reports.”

Brian Mark, defending, said: “There’s nothing I can say in mitigation that excuses his conduct.

“The damage that he did is the damage that he did and the victims and their families will have to live with that. Nothing I say can take away from that.”

Regarding the indecent images, Mr Mark added: “They were downloaded but not kept for looking at.

“They were recovered but not available to be viewed. The images were deleted. It was disgraceful that he looked at it but he was not keeping a library of them.

“He was suffering from some depression, he had no previous convictions and he shows remorse.”

Mr Mark referred to reports on Croudace which said he “perceived the molestation of foster children as too risky”, adding: “The report says he never took the opportunity to abuse foster children or wanted to.

“There was an overlay of psychiatric illness and the offences might not have happened without the overlay of psychiatric issues.

“There’s a lot of self-loathing. He chose to make himself homeless.

“He is an isolated individual and has destroyed the relationships he had.”

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A paedophile claimed he tried to meet a '14-year-old boy' for sex when he was grieving for his Chelsea football star stepdad.

Lee Stride, whose stepfather was Blues defender David Stride, has been spared jail after he arranged to meet who he thought was a teenage boy he had been chatting to on Grindr.

When he arrived to meet the youngster he was confronted by paedophile hunters from the group TRAP.

Southampton Crown Court heard supermarket worker Stride had struck up a conversation on Grindr.

Prosecutor James Kellam said that after the 'boy' said he was 14, Stride continued to talk to him and sent intimate pictures of himself.

Mr Kellam said: "You will be familiar with cases where self-appointed guardians of society - as they see it - set up profiles on dating websites.

"The defendant fell into conversation with a man with an individual profile on Grindr and who told him he was 14.

"Despite having heard that, the defendant continued to talk to him and to send him pictures, which he himself admits [are his genitalia]."

Mr Kellam added it was "quite clear" the exchange concluded with the pair arranging to meet to have sex.

The court heard when Stride arrived at the arranged meeting point, he was challenged by two men who told him police were on their way.

A video of the confrontation was also posted online, which was viewed more than 800,000 times.

Stride, of no fixed abode, admitted one count of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Defending, Mark Florida-James told the court this was an 'unusual' and 'sad' case.

Mr Florida-James said Stride was grieving for his stepfather, who had recently died of a heart attack.

David Stride played 35 times for Chelsea before going on to play for a number of teams in the North American Soccer League.

He added: "[Stride] has gone from a respectable member of the community to someone who will hang his head in shame for a long time to come."

Sentencing him to 12-months behind bars, suspended for two years, Judge Gary Burrell QC told Stride that his wife standing by him was one of the factors that had spared him an immediate jail term.

The judge said: "You have the support of your family.

"In particular, your wife who states, 'I still love my husband and want to support him through the difficult time he is going through, including working on our marriage'.

"In this case there were no real victims. Nevertheless you did not know that and you thought you were in contact with a 14-year-old boy.

"You sent photos which was a particularly stupid thing to do.

"You are very lucky to have that support from your wife. She has stood by you in these most difficult of circumstances."

Stride was placed on the sex offenders' register and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

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A man caught with sexually-explicit images of children after police were tipped off by a paedophile hunter will serve an extra two weeks in jail for wasting court time.

David John Clarkson, of Yorke Drive, Newark, chatted with teenage girls online and persuaded one of them to meet him before taking indecent photographs of her wearing lingerie.

The 49-year-old also swapped explicit images with another girl and shared pictures with a woman he met on a swingers website.

Clarkson was jailed for 4 years at Nottingham Crown Court in October last year, after admitting a string of offences.

Clarkson tried to have his sentence cut at the Court of Appeal, in London, arguing it was too tough.

But he instead found himself with an extra two weeks jail time, after top judges ruled against him.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said remarks made to a probation officer showed he continues to have little insight into the pernicious nature of his activity and he continues to blame others.

Dismissing his appeal, the judge said: It cannot be arguable that the sentence was manifestly excessive.

Sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Mr Justice Warby, she ordered Clarkson to serve an extra two weeks behind bars as punishment for wasting judicial time.

She said: The court has but one means of discouraging unmeritorious applications, which waste precious time and resources, and that is by using the powers to make a loss of time order.

We make a loss of time order in this case of 14 days.

At his sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court, the prosecutor, Mr Kevin Jones, said Clarkson told police he blamed his actions on the girls parents for not properly monitoring their internet usage.

Clarkson met his victims on Facebook or on an adult introduction website. He encouraged them to move on to a messenger service that was unregulated.

'She found him creepy and weird'

Mr Jones said police tracked his first victim, a 15-year-old girl, to Derby.

She used Facebook and said random people would add themselves to her account, he said.

One such person was David Clarkson.

He collected her in Derby. When she met him, he wasnt what she expected.

The photo was noticeably different to the reality.

She found him creepy and weird and said it didnt feel right, but she travelled back with him (to Newark) in his car.

He produced clothing in packages, which he said was in her size. It was a baby-doll outfit.

She got fully undressed and put on the outfit.

He produced a camera from nowhere and commenced taking pictures.

Mr Jones said in an online chat Clarkson called a second under-age girl a hot little number.

He said Clarkson was aware of the girls ages.

He exchanged sexually-explicit messages and pictures with a second underage victim.

Mr Jones said Clarkson told a third girl, who sent him sexually-explicit photographs and one of her performing a sex act on herself, he was going to jail because she was 14.

He said maybe he should get a ferry to France a reference to a high-profile case in which a school teacher absconded abroad with an under-age girl.

Clarkson sent the third girl a sexually-explicit picture of the first victim.

Paedophile hunter

He contacted someone he believed to have been a 13-year-old called Jodie and sent a near-naked picture of the third victim.

Jodie, however, was the male paedophile hunter, who reported Clarkson to the police, said Mr Jones.

Clarkson pleaded guilty to 15 charges relating to the possession and distribution of indecent images, inciting sexual activity and the sexual exploitation of minors, as well as inciting sexual activity over a webcam.

A female co-accused, who Clarkson met on a swingers website and went on to have a relationship with, admitted possession of five indecent images of under-age girls.

Clarkson told her to destroy computer equipment following his arrest.

Clarkson must sign on the sex offenders register for life. His co-accused must sign for five years and was sentenced to a three-year community order.

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The heir to the Greggs bakery chain has had his jail term for sexually abusing young boys cut by five years.

Colin Gregg was jailed for 13 and a half years in March for indecently assaulting four boys aged between 10 and 14 over three decades.

The 76-year-old, from Newcastle, lost a bid to have his convictions overturned at London's Court of Appeal.

But senior judges said his prison term, imposed at Newcastle Crown Court, was too long and should be reduced.

The original trial heard Gregg, who helped build up the family business and was also a social worker and teacher, was a "predatory paedophile" who abused his position of trust.

Swimming pool
Trial judge Robin Mairs described him as "charismatic, inspiring teacher and mentor" who used those attributes to groom young boys.

The assaults began in 1963 and continued over a period of almost 30 years, during which Gregg was a teacher.

He abused one child in a swimming pool and others were molested in a gym, his study or a car.

Sasha Wass QC, representing him at the Appeal Court, argued his sentence was excessive in light of the fact his offending was not in the most serious category.

Lord Justice Davis, sitting with Mrs Justice Nicola Davies and Judge Nicholas Dean QC, said the appeal against sentence must be allowed.

He said: "Having reflected upon the matter, the view of this court is that a total sentence of eight-and-a-half years is appropriate for this offending and for this offender."

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A pervert has been jailed after being caught with child abuse images during a visit to the Lake District.

Craig Johnson, from Manor Chare, Newcastle, was arrested by police while on an overnight stay in Keswick last summer.

Using a police warrant, officers raided the address where Johnson was staying on July 6 and found sick images of child abuse on his electronic devices.

The 29-year-old has now been jailed after pleading guilty to possessing child sex abuse images.

Johnson admitted possessing indecent images of children and three counts of making indecent images of children.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing an extreme pornographic image involving sexual activity by a person with a horse.

A judge at Carlisle Crown Court sentenced Johnson to two-and-a-half years in prison on Friday.

Johnson has also been placed on the sexual offenders’ register indefinitely and received a sexual harm prevention order.

Detective inspector Jenny Beattie, of Cumbria Police, said: “I am pleased that Johnson has been brought before the courts to answer for his actions.

“Every indecent image of child means that somewhere a child has been a victim of abuse.

“There is no excuse for accessing or sharing these type of images and we will continue to work hard to bring those that do so to justice in order to protect children.”

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A pervert was snared by paedophile hunters after thinking he was meeting a 15-year-old for sexual activity.

William Orr was caught on camera by Dark Justice attempting to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old boy after midnight.

The 55-year-old believed he was talking to a teenager called Tom in a gay online chat room, but the fake profile had been set up by the group.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Orr contacted Tom and told him he was 43, from South Shields, and called Liam.

Dark Justice, acting as Tom, told Orr he was a 15-year-old male and despite this the defendant continued the conversation.

Patrizia Doherty told the court how the conversation lasted for 15 minutes before Orr started to communicate with him using the chat application KIK.

She said he sent across photographs of himself in boxer shorts and performing a sex act.

"He asked to meet up with Tom despite being reminded several times that Tom was only 15-years-old," she said.

"The defendant suggested that him and Tom met up in a car park near Newcastle College in Elswick.

"The defendant arrived driving a grey saloon, he approached Dark Justice and said 'nice trackie bottoms'.

"He introduced himself as being part of Dark Justice to which the defendant said 'are you f**k'.

"The defendant walked to his car and sped off."

Dark Justice took Orr's registration number following the meeting on June 28 this year and informed the police.

Orr was arrested by Essex police, on behalf of Northumbria Police, while driving to Stanstead Airport.

Ms Doherty said: "He was trying to get away.

"The defendant said to Tom 'do you have a big c**k and I can make you very happy'.

"There was some grooming behaviour used against the victim and significant disparity in age.

"He said he was 43 knowing full well Tom was 15. He was 54 at the time."

Orr, of South Shields, admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The court heard how Orr has a previous conviction for outraging public decency in 2013 after he was caught carrying out a sex act on Seaburn Beach by a group of teenage boys.

David Callan, defending, told the court how Orr lost both his wife and his son.

He said: "The defendant married a wife called Linda when he was very young and had three children.

"She died when she was 25 in his arms of lung cancer.

"He had a normal sexual relationship with her. Since then he's found it very difficult to be in an intimate relationship with a woman.

"He has been confused about his sexuality. He thinks he's not bisexual but rather homosexual at this stage. He's found therapy extremely helpful.

"He lost his wife leaving him with three children to bring up on his own while working.

"His child Damien was killed in Afghanistan in 2009 while fighting for his country. He's still not got over that death."

Judge Penny Moreland told Orr: "Tom told you he was 15. You continued to talk with him and then on the KIK application.

"By 11 o'clock you had suggested to him the two of you meet and by 20 past midnight you had travelled to the car park near Newcastle College where you found there was no such person as Tom."

Judge Moreland sentenced Orr to six months in prison suspended for two years.

She also ordered Orr to sign the sex offenders register for seven years, undergo a 40 day rehabilitation activity requirement and attend a sex offenders programme.

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Leslie Short, labelled 'an entrenched and committed paedophile', has been jailed for 12 years for sexual assault and indecent image offences

A twisted pervert who sexually abused two young girls had videos of one of the victims on his computer, among more than 12,000 indecent images.

Paedophile Leslie Short left his victims traumatised for life by grooming and molesting them in separate attacks spanning a decade.

During one of the assaults, one of the girls tried to run away but he grabbed her by the ankles to try to stop her.

When one of the victims told her mother what had happened, police were called and Short was arrested.

On computer equipment found at his house, there were a total of 12,351 indecent images of children.

Among them was footage he had taken of one of the abuse victims and images of other children he copied from someones computer while fixing it.

When confronted by police, Short said: I cant explain all this. Sick mind I suppose.

Now the 59-year-old, never in trouble before, has been locked up for 12 years at Newcastle Crown Court.

Judge Robin Mairs told him: You used the guise of being a caring adult to immerse yourself in the lives of young children then abused them.

This spanned at least a decade and it is clear you are an entrenched and committed paedophile.

Short, of Campion Gardens, Gateshead, carried out the attacks on the first girl when she was aged six or seven.

Robert Spragg, prosecuting, said the sexual assaults had had a lasting impact on her.

He said: It has particularly affected her school life and her ability to trust people.

She ended up with severe depression, her relationship with her mother suffered and her ability to form relationships with other people suffered.

She says she doesnt think she will ever get over what he did to her and feels she will be mentally scarred for life.

The second victim has also been badly affected by Shorts actions, the court heard.

Mr Spragg said: She became clingy and anxious about going to other peoples houses for the night and has had bad dreams as a result of what happened to her.

When Short was arrested, police searched his home and found the indecent images and movies.

Among the footage was video he had taken of one of the abuse victims, although not of the abuse.

He had also copied images of other children from a computer he was fixing for someone.

Short pleaded guilty to five child sex offences seven offences of making indecent images of children.

As well as the 12 year prison sentence he must sign the sex offender register for life, was barred from working with children and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

Jamie Adams, defending, said: He is not making excuses for it and he accepts totally the wrongfulness of what he has done.

He has been, for much of his life, a hard working man. He is now a sad heap of a human being with nothing to look forward to.

He acknowledges the damage his behaviour has done to the young people we have heard about.

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A 26-year-old drama teacher who admitted having sex with a pupil has been spared a prison sentence.

Kelly Burgess, of Newport, had a seven-month relationship with the boy, Bristol Crown Court heard.

The matter came to light when the boy, aged between 16 and 17 at the time of the abuse, visited a sexual health clinic with Burgess after she developed symptoms of an infection.

Burgess was given a 10-month sentence, suspended for two years.

'Should have known better'

Judge Euan Ambrose told her: "You are a picture of misery in this courtroom.

"The relationship, albeit conducted as if between equals, was not a relationship between equals. You were older, you were his teacher and you should at all times have known better."

North Somerset District Council said in a statement after sentencing: "This was an isolated incident. The school followed the correct procedures and co-operated with the police."

Neither the school nor the boy can be identified for legal reasons.

The court heard Burgess and the teenager had sex at least once a week between January and August last year.

'Get the story straight'

When staff at the school noticed how close the relationship had become they informed the head teacher who challenged Burgess.

She denied the relationship was sexual and no further action was taken.

But after the visit to the sexual health clinic the police were alerted and an inquiry began.

When she was first arrested Burgess denied the offences, but when officers searched her home they discovered her mobile phone with a text message from the boy.

It read: "Got the police round. Don't text back, don't be scared.

"Just get the story straight for when they come for you."

Burgess later pleaded guilty to four sexual offences of breach of trust - engaging in a sexual act with a child between January and August 2013.

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A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard.

A fire union official had sex sessions with a love-struck schoolgirl he seduced through explicit texts, a court heard.

As reported in later editions of last night's Chronicle Paul Ahmed had been introduced to the 14-year-old by one of her friends during a Christmas holiday, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

They kept in touch by swapping mobile messages, it was claimed.

But Ahmed's texts became more and more steamy, the jury heard.

And he used them to persuade the infatuated teenager to start a secret affair, the court was told.

Ahmed, a 44-year-old official with the Fire Brigades' Union on South Tyneside, would collect the girl from the car park of The Fountain pub in South Shields and take her to a local port. It is alleged that on one occasion he fondled her breasts and on another they engaged in a sex act.

Then, after taking her to his own home, Ahmed had full intercourse with the consenting girl on a sofa in the living room, said Michael Hodson, prosecuting.

Ahmed was finally arrested when the girl's mother read one of the texts, confronted her daughter and contacted police.

"The messages were very explicit," Mr Hodson told the court. "They were wholly designed to encourage her to behave in an indecent way with him."

Ahmed, of Carnegie Close, South Shields, denies two charges of indecent assault, gross indecency, inciting the girl to commit acts of gross indecency and another serious sexual offence. All the charges date between April and June 2003.

The court heard the girl, who will give evidence over a television link, kept a record of the texts in a special book.

They included X-rated descriptions of the sex acts Ahmed wanted her to take part in, a boast about his own performance and evidence that he knew what he was doing was wrong, the court heard.

"Nevertheless, he pressed and persuaded her by text messages that caused her infatuation with him and she was therefore willing to do what he suggested," Mr Hodson added.

Ahmed even planned to video himself having sex with the girl in a caravan but in the end the meeting never happened, it was claimed.

He later told police he did know the girl but that nothing inappropriate or sexual had ever taken place.

The trial continues.

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A RAPIST has finally been brought to justice after being convicted of a shocking catalogue of sexual offences against a terrified schoolboy.

Kieran Bunday threatened to kill his young victim if he told anyone, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

He also threatened the boy with an air rifle, pinned him against a wall and told him he had a knife. The court was told how Bunday repeatedly punched his victim before launching a frightening campaign of abuse which went on for several years.

Bunday, 24, who now lives in Forester Road, Blackfield, in the New Forest, carried out the offences in the Bournemouth area.

He was found guilty of four charges of rape, two of sexual assault, two charges of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and one count of indecency with a child.

A jury heard how the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been deeply affected by the prolonged abuse and suffered from depression, nightmares and self-harm.

Prosecuting, Simon Jones told the court that Bunday had been arrested and interviewed by police after his victim had finally cracked and told his mother what had happened to him last year.

Judge Samuel Wiggs jailed Bunday, who is now a registered sex offender, for three years.

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A COMMUNITY psychiatric nurse, who had sex with a woman suffering from a mental disorder, was jailed for two years at Southampton Crown Court.

John Bennett, who was employed by Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust, was arrested after the woman in her late 40s made a disclosure to her doctor that they had sex in her home.

Judge Derwin Hope told the 44-year-old, who had been a qualified care worker from 2001 until June 2010 when the allegations came to light, it represented a breach of trust.

The judge said he accepted that at heart he was a caring person and had suffered difficulties of his own.

He added: But you took advantage of her difficulties for your own benefit in a serious way.

You are someone with a low risk of committing further offences and you have been relieved of your professional duties but I have no doubt, taking everything into consideration, this matter is so serious that only an immediate period of custody can be justified.

Defending, Christopher Baur said there had been no wickedness in Bennetts intentions and he was still receiving treatment for his own mental health problems.

Bennett had been off work for depression and went back too early because he feared for his job.

He and the woman had considerable feelings for each other and if he had been in a better frame of mind he would not have slipped into this situation.

Bennett, of Wood Road, Ashurst, was convicted of having sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder as a care worker.

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A FORMER village bobby has been found guilty of sexually abusing two teenage boys while working for Hamp-shire police.

Gordon Hunter showed no emotion as jurors convicted him on all 14 charges he faced, which included gross indecency with a child and attempted buggery.

As the guilty verdicts were read out, one woman in the public gallery, believed to be a member of one of the victims’ families, said: “Yes.”

The court heard that Hunter and his wife, Gill, had tried to commit suicide just days ago.

Winchester Crown Court was told that the couple, who had been married for 40 years, made the attempt at their home in Dene Way, Ashurst, on Thursday. It is understood paramedics took the couple to hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Hunter was absent from court on Friday and Monday but was in court yesterday to hear the unanimous guilty verdicts read out after the jury had deliberated for six-and-a-half hours.

Judge Andrew Barnett lifted a court order banning publication of the joint suicide bid following the verdict.

Hunter’s son, brother-in-law and friends were in the public gallery to hear the verdicts read out. Mrs Hunter, who had been present during the trial, was absent for the sentencing but has since been released from hospital.

Judge Andrew Barnett remanded Hunter in custody for his own safety until he is sentenced next month.

He told him: “You have been convicted by the jury of 14 extremely serious offences against young teenage boys.

“Be under no illusion that the inevitable sentence is one of imprisonment and you must prepare yourself for that.

“Bearing in mind your safety after you and your wife were involved in a suicide attempt I have to consider your well-being and I have to remand you in custody.”

During the five-day trial the court heard how Hunter had abused the boys in separate areas of the county between 1987 and 1998.

It was while working as a village policeman that Hunter abused the first boy, inviting him into his home to take part in a variety of sex acts.

The offences began with a boy, who was 11 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, when Hunter was the village policeman in Whitchurch in the north of the county between 1983 and 1992.

The court heard how many of the offences took place at Hunter’s family home, some in his marital bed.

Jurors were told that Hunter then moved to Ashurst in the New Forest in 1992 and in 1995 began to target another boy, who also cannot be named for legal reasons.

Hunter retired from Hampshire police as a police constable in 2002 but continued in a variety of support staff roles including a detention officer in Eastleigh.

He retired from a support staff role at Lyndhurst at the beginning of October 2009 before being arrested later that month. The investigation has been led by officers from Hampshire Constabulary’s professional standards department.

Hunter, who had denied all the charges, was put on the sex offender’s register.

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A SINISTER child molester freed on parole took youngsters on car rides after hiding his past.

A SINISTER child molester freed on parole took youngsters on car rides after hiding his past.

Sleazy landlord Sajjad Akram was given three years behind bars in 2007 for a serious sex offence against a teenage boy in an Eldon Square car park in Newcastle.

He was released a little over a year later in October 2008 with strict licence conditions designed to keep other youngsters from his clutches.

But Akram flouted those restrictions to take three different children for trips in his Ford Focus.

He only asked permission from their parents before one outing to a McDonalds, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

And none of the mums or dads knew Akrams disturbing past, said Robert Adams, prosecuting.

A pre-sentence report written by a specialist probation officer warned: Despite being subject to licence conditions, attending a sex offender group work programme, and being regularly monitored by police and probation, Akram has chosen to engage in risk-taking behaviour which he has concealed and sought unsupervised contact with children without their parents knowledge or consent.

Jailing Akram, formerly of Hartington Street, Elswick, in the citys West End, for two years, Judge Brian Forster said: These are serious offences.

You became known to a number of children who lived in the area where you owned a property.

The children were aged eight, nine and 11 and you choose to keep their company and take them for rides.

Akram, who had been living in an approved hostel after his prison release, admitted three charges of child abudctuion.

None of the children concerned were touched or molested during any of the trips, the court heard.

But Akrams record including not just the Eldon Square offence but an earlier indecent assault on a schoolboy in 1999 made police concerned for the youngsters safety, Mr Adams said.

Clearly, he has a worrying and significant offending history, Mr Adams added.

All of the latest offences happened during the school summer holiday last year and only came to light when hostel staff spotted a child in Ackrams Ford Focus.

Fortunately no harm whatsoever came to any of those children, said Joe Hedworth, defending.

It appears they voluntarily got into the car and got out without incident.

Akram, already registered as a sex offender for life, was also made subject to a 10-year sexual offences prevention order to keep him away from children.

You must understand the order requires you to avoid contact with children and young persons without a reasonable excuse, Judge Forster said.

If you breach the terms you will end up staying even longer in prison.

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HE BUILT up his reputation as a photographer by working with some of the most famous names in the world.

Erik Russell started taking pictures as a child and his career ranged from taking shoots for global magazines to snapping Olympic sailing medallist Ben Ainslie as he met local schoolchildren.

But beneath this guise is one of the countys most vile paedophiles who enjoys watching youngsters subjected to torture and horrific sexual abuse.

Today, as he prepares to be jailed for the sickening crimes, which he has managed to keep a secret in the town where he lives, the Daily Echo can reveal the true horror of what he did.

Russell, who lives with his partner in Lymington, was uncovered by detectives from Hampshire polices Child Abuse Investigation Unit.

He was arrested in his home by officers who swooped and seized his computers and photographic equipment during an undercover operation on October 19, 2006.

His computer records showed he had paid to access a number of websites which contained graphic images and videos of children mainly girls from toddlers to teens.

It took detectives weeks to plough through the thousands of horrific images and videos.

Eventually detectives concluded that he was responsible for making and possessing a staggering 32,832 photos. Also found were 1,699 videos of the same horrific abuse.

Police used new guidelines to rank the scale of the abuse with one being the weakest and five the most sickening and Russells disgusting catalogue included the very worst kind.

A further 42,122 pictures were found on his computer that could not be categorised. Likewise, 512 videos were not given a ranking because officers could not be sure they showed children.

Russell was eventually charged with 20 specimen counts of making indecent images and videos (downloading and saving). He was also charged with two further offences of possessing indecent images of a child.

Denying the charges, he stood trial for five days at Portsmouth Crown Court, where a jury took just 50 minutes to unanimously find him guilty.

Following conviction, Russell was released on conditional bail to be sentenced today.

Until now he has managed to keep his depraved behaviour a secret in the tight-knit community of Lymington, where he moved in 2005 following the acrimonious breakdown of his marriage.

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A senior detective yesterday demanded changes in the law to make it mandatory for social workers to notify police when sex offenders are released from custody after a student was given life for raping and murdering an 11-year-old boy.

Dominic McKilligan, 19, who had a history of sexually abusing children, was not on the official sex offenders register because a supervision order imposed from previous offences expired the day before the register was introduced.

He dodged social workers after he was released in August 1997 and 10 months later killed Wesley Neailey when the boy resisted his sexual advances.

Detective Superintendent Trevor Fordy, the officer who led the investigation, said the case showed there were shortfalls in the legislation.

He added: "If police are not informed about the release of paedophiles then it's impossible for us to exercise any form of risk management against them hurting other children. Society cannot afford to have anyone with a history of paedophilia at liberty in the community without an in-depth assessment of the risk they might pose to children or other vulnerable people. We have got to look at what is in place at the moment and see how we can make it better in the future."

McKilligan struck Wesley over the head with a wrench and dumped the body by a quiet road near the village of Healey, Northumberland.

He then led the police to the site three weeks later after telling detectives Wesley's death had been an accident.

Following the verdict at Newcastle crown court, Christopher Knox, for the prosecution, told Mr Justice Bennett that McKilligan was convicted in August 1994 of gross indecency against four boys aged between seven and 11 in Bournemouth.

After inviting children to play games, he tortured them, in one case beating a boy with an iron bar.

Rumours in the playgrounds of local schools led to one of the most wide-ranging child sex abuse investigations in the history of the Dorset constabulary.

McKilligan served a three-year supervision order, but due to the timing of the previous conviction he missed being added to the sex offenders register by 24-hours.

McKilligan managed to dupe social workers when he moved from the south coast to a secure unit in the north-east, side-stepping the authorities in Bournemouth, Durham and Newcastle as his release date came closer.

When he was discharged from the unit for young sex offenders in Durham in November 1997, social workers lost track of him.

McKilligan befriended Wesley in the weeks before the murder. A shy and trusting boy who was thought to be mildly epileptic, Wesley visited McKilligan at his home in the west end of Newcastle, the court heard.

On June 5, Wesley waved goodbye to his mother and rode to see McKilligan.

He was caught when a former care worker rang to tell detectives about his past, and a cheque made out to Wesley was found in his flat.

Mr Fordy emphasised that Wesley might still be alive if his supervision order had ended on September 1 1997 - the day the register was established. His whereabouts would have been known to police and officers would have been free to check on him when they chose.

The NSPCC called for a national network of services to help stop children from becoming paedophiles.

Its director of child protection, Neil Hunt, said: "Dominic McKilligan was already a seriously disturbed boy by 14.

"He was in local authority care and assessed as a very grave risk to children. A full investigation should take place into whether this tragic death could have been averted. Too many young abusers are slipping through the net. Their behaviour and problems are not recognised early enough, they are left untreated and their victims are left unprotected."