Latest Offenders Reading

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Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man has been jailed for multiple sex offences against a child in Reading.

Vlazimr Rybak, aged 63, of Oxford Road, Reading, was found guilty by unanimous jury verdict of two counts of sexual assault by touch a child and a count each of sexual assault by penetration on a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity following a four-day trial at Reading Crown Court, which concluded on 18 January.

Returning to the same court for sentencing today (18/3), Rybak was jailed for 16 years with an additional year on licence.

The offending happened in the last ten years, the victim was sexually abuse by Rybak on numerous occasions.

The offences were reported to Thames Valley Police in November 2020 and following an investigation, Rybak was arrested on 29 May 2021.

He was charged with the offences on 28 July 2022.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Sophie Measham, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “I am pleased that Rybak was convicted by a unanimous jury of these offences.

“The victim in this case was a very young child and Rybak betrayed trust to commit these horrendous crimes.

“Today he has been sentenced to a significant prison sentence as a result of his offending, and I hope that this offers some closure for the victim.

“I commend the bravery and courage of such a young person to come forward and trust in the police and criminal justice system to bring Rybak to account for his crimes.

“I would also like to thank the Crown Prosecution Service for working with us to secure this conviction.”

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A WOODLEY dance company owner paid a 15-year-old girl to send him sexual images of herself, a court has heard. 

Richard Still, director of Vibez Dance Ballroom and Latin School, pleaded guilty at Reading Crown Court on Monday (November 13) to four sexual offences against a child.

The 38-year-old dance champion admitted to asking a girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to send him images that were sexual or erotic in nature in exchange for payments into her bank account.

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child.

Still was also charged with four other counts including making and possessing indecent images of a child and engaging in sexual communications with a child but the Crown Prosecution Service have agreed to drop these charges.

The dance teacher was due to be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday (November 13) but the case was incorrectly sent to the court as a trial preparation hearing.

Instead, Still was re-arraigned and his sentencing has been adjourned until December 19 at the same court.

He remains on bail with the condition that he does not attend Vibez Dance Studio, based in Crockhamwell Road, Woodley, during opening hours, he only stay at his home address in Louden Square, Earley, and he cannot be with a child under the age of 18 without the supervision of an adult.

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A PAEDOPHILE has been handed a 20-year jail sentence after blackmailing a 13-year-old girl into sending him naked photographs and a 15-year-old girl into touching him.

Dean Yates, of Oxford Road, Reading, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday (July 31) to nine charges: making an indecent photograph of a child, two counts of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl, two counts of assault on a female, two counts of causing/inciting a 15-year-old girl into sexual activity, and two counts of causing a female to engage in sexual activity.

Judge Emma Nott sentenced the 34-year-old to a 20-year extended sentence with a 15-year custodial sentence due to the seriousness of the offences.

The incidents happened in 2019 when Yates was about 30 years old. The court heard that Yates would hack into young girls’ social media accounts to obtain private photographs of them to blackmail them into sending more.

He would pretend to be younger than he was when speaking to the girls online – using his real name and an alias.

The first set of charges relate to a girl aged 13, Yates had hacked into a 15-year-old boy's account and pretended to be him to persuade the girl to send him private photographs.

He then blackmailed the girl using the original photographs, forcing her to send more. 

Speaking to the police, the girl said: “I sent him a picture because I thought it would make him go away. 

“Then he messaged saying if I didn’t send him more he was going to send the picture to my mum and dad and put it on social media.

“So I sent him a few more photos. He said he would send them to my friends and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to send him more as I thought it would get worse.”

The 15-year-old boy whose account it actually was ended up being arrested and interviewed by police before it transpired that he had been hacked.

Following this, Yates was arrested and a second girl was interviewed about her interactions with the defendant.

She revealed that Yates had hacked her account and obtained her private photographs and blackmailed her using an alias.

He then forced her to meet up with him and engage in sexual activity while pretending that he too was being blackmailed by ‘the alias’ account. 

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, the 15-year-old girl said she feels ‘fear and distress’ when thinking about Yates and said she was ‘too young’ to deal with things at the time.

Yates will also be made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

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An Afghan migrant caught trying to sneak back into Britain received taxpayer-funded legal help to try and overturn his conviction after being jailed for raping a 12-year-old girl.

Emal Kochai, 29, was deported from Britain in 2019 after serving half of a nine-year prison sentence for raping his victim at a house in Reading, Berks in 2014.

But he made his way back to the Channel in March 2022 where he was found by a reporter in a tent at the Grande Synthe camp, near Dunkirk, claiming he had 'changed his ways'.

The convicted paedophile admitted tying to board a boat to Britain, but his crossing failed after police arrived and punctured the vessel with a knife.

Now new Freedom of Information figures show the child sex offender received taxpayers' cash to pay for a solicitor to challenge his conviction prior to being booted out of Britain in 2019.

The asylum seeker turned rapist received a total of £19,395.02 in legal aid cash to pay for his defence at trial plus a further £1,752.31 for a solicitor to work on a Criminal Cases Review Commission application.

The CCRC investigates potential miscarriages of justice.

Kochai has previously claimed his rape conviction was, 'all a misunderstanding'.

His victim, told police that Kochai had raped her at a house where there were six or seven other men.

She said that Kochai, known to her as AK, had pushed her on to a bed, pulled off her clothing and raped her.

The other men had knocked on the door and Kochai had opened it, then locked it again and resumed his assault, his trial heard.

Kochai, who was 20 at the time of the offence, denied rape but told police he had been told the girl was 17 and that he would not have touched her if he had known her real age.

David Spencer of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: 'This case is yet another example of taxpayer money being put straight into the pockets of lawyers tasked with trying to defend the indefensible and mounting frivolous cases to try and keep immigrants in the UK.

'It is wholly wrong that taxpayer money should be used in this way and this case adds yet more grist to the mill that legal aid is long overdue widespread reform to prevent this sort of abuse of the system.'

The CCRC told us that 'no application had been received' from Kochai despite preliminary legal work on a case being undertaken.

The Ministry of Justice, added: 'Legal aid is not paid directly to defendants. Legal aid is paid to legal representatives to ensure a fair trial.'

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A SEX offender who poses a “substantial” risk to children has been sent back to prison.

Ashley Connock has a history of child sex offences and flouting court orders while living in Thatcham.

At Reading Crown Court on Friday, May 26, the 29-year-old was sentenced for his latest breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) designed to protect children from him.

The court heard that Connock was first convicted of sex offences in 2008 and by 2009 had committed the first breach of the SHPO.

He defied the order again in 2013 and was jailed in 2016 for breaching a restraining order.

There were subsequent, serious child sex offences and further breaches of the SHPO.

Judge Heather Nott remarked: “And here we are again.”

Gabrielle McAvock, prosecuting, said the latest SHPO breaches involved Connock, who was living in Pound Lane, Thatcham, repeatedly lying to his offender manager.

Connock admitted two SHPO breaches and three counts of failing to comply with the SHPO notification requirements.

He had been secretly using the internet without allowing his browsing history to be checked and without risk management software being installed, said Ms McAvock.

Connock also had several different bank cards without notifying his offender manager of them, she added.

Ms McAvock concluded that Connock had told a “catalogue of lies” to avoid scrutiny and had persistently flouted court orders designed to protect children from him.

Caroline Stewart, defending, said her client was “the author of his own misfortune.”

She said that Connock’s latest deceits had not been aimed at covering up paedophile activity but at concealing his gambling.

Ms Stewart went on: “It is foolish and self destructive behaviour because it makes people fear he is doing something far more serious.

“He had begun to use illegal drugs and got into financial difficulties.”

Judge Heather Nott told Connock: “These are serious offences; you know how serious they are.

“Your record highlights the risk you pose and that risk is substantial.

“You have a long history of committing sex offences and breaching court orders.

“These are persistent and deliberate breaches and I don’t accept that here the only risk was you gambling with your own money.”

Judge Nott pointed out that, since his initial child sex offences, “there have been further, serious offences against children and further breaches of the SHPO – and here we are again”.

She sentenced Connock, who had recently been living on Oxford Road, Reading, to 20 months imprisonment, half of which will be spent locked up and the remainder on licence in the community.

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A man has been jailed following a rape in Reading. Catalin-Petrisor Luca has now been sentenced to six years and 11 months in prison following a hearing at Reading Crown Court on May 22.

Luca, of Chesterman Street, Reading, had pleaded guilty to one count of rape at the same court on February 3. The 33-year-old led a woman in her 20s down an alleyway off Garrard Street in October last year.

After leading her down the alley, Luca proceeded to rape the victim. He was subsequently arrested and charged on November 3 last year.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Amy Hennah, based at Reading police station, said: Luca took advantage of the victim while she was drunk and vulnerable. I am pleased that he will now serve a considerable amount of time in prison.

Thames Valley Police takes rape and sexual assault offences extremely seriously and will investigate robustly to bring offenders to justice.

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POLICE have released an image of a man imprisoned for raping a six-year-old girl when he was a teenager.

Bradley Holloway, of Rupert Square, Reading, has been sent to prison for six years after being found guilty of two counts of rape he committed when he was between the ages of 13 to 15.

The now 32-year-old was found guilty following a trial in December and was sentenced this week at Reading Crown Court.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court she has been left with post-traumatic stress disorder and had to sleep with the light on after her life was turned upside down by Holloway's abuse.

The Reading man committed sexual offences every Sunday and would 'offer to buy her toys' if she didn't tell anyone.

Judge Hassan Khan sentenced Holloway to six years' imprisonment for one count of rape and another six years to run concurrently for the second count.

He will serve at least half of the sentence before being released on licence. A sexual harm prevention order has also been made.

The court heard that Holloway is in the early stages of launching an appeal against his conviction.

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A CHURCH has expressed its great shock after a member of its congregation was sentenced for downloading almost 5,000 child porn pictures.

Andrew Loring, of Hurst Road, Twyford, was spared jail after being convicted of three counts of making indecent images between 2017 and 2019.

The 45-year-old also worked with children having attained a number of leadership roles within the Hurst Scouts group.

Following his sentencing last month, St Marys Twyford released a statement.

A spokesperson said: News of Mr Lorings arrest, and the crimes he has admitted to, has come as a great shock to many in our community. He was a longstanding volunteer and member of the congregation at St Marys Twyford, a regular volunteer at Woodley Park Run, and has held a variety of leadership roles within the Scouts.

Mr Loring was immediately suspended from volunteering at St Marys Twyford on 22 November 2019.

There can be no excuse for his actions and his betrayal of trust. His is not a victimless crime, a fact the judge reminded Mr Loring of during sentencing.

Young and innocent lives are forever damaged by downloading indecent images. Many others are affected, too: the young people who looked up to him left questioning what to believe; staff and leaders left to pick up the pieces; a congregation bewildered by the actions of someone they called a friend.

In the view of the judge, Mr Loring has, since his arrest, demonstrated a willingness to address the root causes of his actions and has a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. We hope that this is indeed the case.

Today, we are shocked, saddened, and experiencing feelings that don't have words for. We offer all of this to God and pray for a world where children are safe from online abuse."

According to a court file, the 45-year-old downloaded:

- 971 Category A images (the most severe)

- 999 Category B images

- 2,623 Category C images

Appearing at Reading Crown Court on May 26, the 45-year-old was handed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months.

The Chronicle contacted Scouts for comment following news of Lorings sentence.

A spokesperson for the organisation confirmed Loring will never be allowed to work with Scouts again.

They said: We are aware of the court proceedings involving Andrew Loring.

The safety of young people in our care is our number one priority. In November 2019 Loring provided us with information that led to him being suspended from the Scouts. He has not volunteered with us since that date.

The statutory agencies have confirmed that there were no Scout victims involved in this case.

Following Lorings admission of guilt we will now take action to permanently exclude him from ever volunteering with Scouting again.

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A paedophile hunter groups victim, who sent pictures of himself wearing ladies underwear, has been jailed for four years.

Michael Hall, 53, sent the 13-year-old girl sexually-explicit messages instructing her to use fruit as a sex toy.

Having met the girl on 18+ website Loveoo, he made repeated requests for her to send pictures of herself in her underwear or a swimsuit. The former Berkshire man, who has since moved to France, also sent explicit images of himself using a sex toy.

Despite attempts to meet up, he was said to have got cold feet. Ahead of a surprise meeting in Reading, he told her she was too young and he was scared of going to prison.

The girl with whom Hall thought was speaking was, in fact, a member of a so-called paedophile hunter group called the Geordie Chasers.

The group confronted him outside Reading railway station in mid-2018 after he travelled to meet the girl.

Hall had denied a slew of child sex offences, telling police that he believed the girl was an adult.

However, jurors at Oxford Crown Court earlier this week returned unanimous guilty verdicts to seven charges, including attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and attempting to meet a child after sexual activity.

Sending him down for four years, Judge Ian Pringle QC said: Your defence that you knew all along that the person with whom you were texting was a woman aged between 18 and 24 was flatly rejected by the jury.

By their verdicts they found you did, indeed, believe she was 13 years of age.

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A MAN who sexually assaulted a young girl over several years is starting a nine-year prison sentence.

James Doyle, 36, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Thursday, March 3, after being convicted of two counts of sexual activity with the girl, then aged under 13, at an address in East Grinstead between five and ten years ago.

Doyle, of Bear Lane, Hare Hatch, Reading, will be a registered sex offender for life and was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to run for ten years on his release, hugely restricting his access to girls under 16 and to digital communications devices.

Detective Constable Rees Hopcraft, West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: "Doyle gained the confidence of his victim over a period of time and then chose situations in which she was alone and vulnerable to systematically exploit her for his own gratification.

"As soon as this was reported to us we took action and Doyle is no longer in a position to act in this predatory way against other children."

For information on how to report concerns about sexual exploitation of children and the support that is available, see the Sussex Police website.

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THE GRANDSON of a former prison governor will get another taste of jail life after he was locked up for raping a young woman.

William Thorpe, formerly of Bowyers Lane, Warfield, Bracknell Forest, has already spent time inside having assaulted the woman before he raped her in 2019.

The 20-year-old will now spend at least three years and nine months in prison, however, after he was found guilty of rape following a trial in October 2021.

Reading Crown Court heard how Thorpe raped the woman at his Reading flat on August 6, 2019, when he was 18-years-old.

She had made her way to his home to collect shoes and money Thorpe owed her at around 9 pm that evening but left without either item 20 minutes later.

In that intervening period, Thorpe raped the woman.

Reading Crown Court heard how he placed his hands on her throat during the incident and then emotionally blackmailed her by threatening to harm himself with a knife afterwards.

His Honour Judge Burgess said: This was a violent act of domination intended to assert power during the incident.

The judge added that the incident left the woman was extremely distressed and she immediately called two of her friends afterwards.

They helped her to make a report to the police and Thorpe was arrested in the early hours of August 7.

He claimed he and the woman had had consensual sex and maintained his innocence buta a jury dismissed his denials in last years trial.

Sentencing, the judge told the court of Thorpes previous convictions, which included two counts of assault against the woman he raped back in May 2019 and a further conviction for three battery offences against a different woman in February and April 2020.

For these offences, he has already spent four-and-a-half months in prison.

But Judge Burgess opted against handing Thorpe an extended sentence following his rape conviction and instead opted for a 7.5-year prison term.

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A BUILDER who sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl on his way to pick up a toolkit from Screwfix has been sent to prison.

Martin Collins, formerly of Lower Henley Road, Caversham, was locked up after being found guilty of two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 back in April.

A court heard how the builder has been ostracized by his friends and his home has been graffitied following his convictions.

And now he is facing three years behind bars after being sentenced for his offences at Reading Crown Court.

The 66-year-old abused the seven-year-old girl on two occasions over the 2019/2020 Christmas period.

In the first instance, Collins was found to have touched the girls genitals over her clothes while she was sitting on his lap.

On the second occasion, the girl was sitting in the front passenger seat of Collins car when they were on their way to Screwfix to pick up a toolkit.

It was here in the car that Collins again touched the girls genitals over her clothes.

Reading a statement from the girls mother, prosecutor Simon Walters said the girls personality has changed since the incidents.

He said: Her anger outbursts are extreme. She can become angry over the smallest of things.

She will kick, shout and scream.

She no longer trusts people and does not have normal interactions with people.

She has nightmares and recently she said she didnt want to go back to the area where the [Screwfix] store is located.

She is not the girl she was two years ago.

These incidents will affect my daughter for a very long time to come.

Defending, Lyall Thompson argued there was no evidence to suggest Collins manipulated the girl to engineer his being along with her.

He claimed Collins has suffered since the court trial in April, losing all his friends and his house has been graffitied.

Sentencing, his honour Judge Edward Burgess told Collins he was in a position of trust when he committed the offences.

Collins was sentenced to three years imprisonment for two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

His name will be on the sex offenders register for ten years.

Collins was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday, November 1.

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A court has heard how the wife of a man who was caught sending sexual messages to two 13-year-old girls is now in charge of the password to their family laptop.

Philip Horsburgh, of Kenton Road, Wokingham, was spared jail despite also sending a picture of his penis to the girls.

The 72-year-old made online contact with the underage girls -- who were not real and whose personas were created by undercover police officers -- in the summer of 2019.

He was made aware of the girls ages but continued to message them and told one of them to touch herself sexually, a court heard.

Horsburgh also sent a picture of himself touching himself to one of the girls.

However, the Wokingham man did not attempt to meet the girls and the contact ceased.

His defence counsel Mr Walker said that since the incidents, his wife has changed the password on their family laptop and he is only allowed to use it under her supervision.

The court heard how Horsburgh has been taking part in rehabilitative courses since the summer 2019 incidents.

His barrister said: He wants to show everyone else he will not behave like this again.

Sentencing, Her Honour Judge Real said: This was a massive shock to your family but they have put in place measures so you do not go down this route again.

With this in mind, Judge Real handed Horsburgh a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

The 72-year-old will also have to take part in 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days and will be on the sex offenders register for ten years.

He was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Monday, October 25 for two counts of attempting to incite a girl aged 13-15 in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

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A top judge refused to give details of a serial sex offender’s vile abuse of two young girls as it was ‘clear’ he would get ‘sexual excitement’ recounting his shocking crimes.

A court heard how Lester Bell, 70 from Reading, would likely serve the rest of his life in jail after he was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years behind bars for the non-recent sexual abuse of the two survivors.

One of the girls was just six years old when Bell’s abuse started and his depraved actions included rape and sexual assault.

He filmed his abuse of the two girls and a jury was shown these images during a summer trial, at the end of which he was found guilty of 17 offences.

In his sentencing at Reading Crown Court, the prosecution revealed few details about the extent of Bell’s abuse and His Honour Judge Paul Dugdale followed suit after defence counsel Nadia Shabat conceded her client would likely “serve the rest of his life in a custodial sentence.”

The judge said: “You are a man who has not been in trouble before. I take into account your age and you are not in good health.

“I watched you carefully during the trial. I watched you give evidence.

“At the start of the trial I took the view that I could deal with you because you would not be an ongoing risk but as I watched you during the trial my opinion changed completely.

“You spent the trial going into great detail about specific aspects of your offending you simply did not need to give in order to put across your case.

“You did not plead guilty and you made a jury see things no jury should have to see.

“I thought about why you were going into all this detail and why you intended for these videos to be shown.

“The reason is this: It is clear even now in the court room when you were being tried for these offences, you were getting sexual excitement from this evidence.

“That is why I am not going into detail about these offences because I am not going to give you the pleasure of going into this again.

“You are unable to accept the seriousness of these actions. To accept the devastation you have caused these two young girls. And even now you get sexual excitement from the memory of what you did.

“You took away their childhoods. You left them irreparably scarred going into the rest of their lives. You gave them memories of things that will haunt them on a daily basis.

“You did that for a pathetic moment of sexual excitement for yourself.

“It is clear to me that whatever goes on in your mind that made you behave in that way is still very active.”

Labelling him as an “ongoing risk”, Judge Dugdale handed Bell a 30-year prison sentence, of which he will serve a minimum of 16 years before he is eligible for release.

The sentence was based on a conviction for five counts of assault of a child aged under 13 by penetration, two counts of rape of a child under 13, three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, one count of attempted rape, two counts of causing or inciting a child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity, two counts of making category A indecent images of children, one count of making category B indecent images of children, and one count of making category C indecent images of children.

He will remain on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life and an order was made for his devices and the images he created to be destroyed.

Bell appeared for his sentencing at Reading Crown Court on Friday, October 1 via video link from HMP Bullingdon.

After he was sent down, Judge Dugdale addressed the girls who survived Bell’s abuse in the public gallery.

He told them: “It is a big thing to come and give evidence [at a trial]. What you did was extremely brave.

“There is no reason he should stop you from living your life. That is the only way forward. You put it behind you.”

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Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man was sentenced on Tuesday (24/8) to 16 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of sexual offences against a child while he was a teacher at Reading Blue Coat School.

John Stanley Imeson, also known as Jack, aged 73, of Fitzroy Crescent in Woodley, Wokingham, was convicted by a jury at Reading Crown Court on 25 May this year. It followed a seven day trial.

He was convicted of seven counts of indecent assault on a male person, four counts of buggery, and a count each of indecency with a child and assault with intent to commit buggery.

Imeson was also made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The offences took place in 1980 and 1981 involving two victims, both boys aged from 11-13 at the time. The incidents happened on school trips to Reading, London, Ross-on-Wye, and also at Imeson’s residence.

Imeson was charged via a postal requisition on 3 April 2020.

Detective Sergeant Jason Wilkinson, said: “This has been a long and protracted investigation and my thanks goes to the two victims for their bravery, perseverance and resilience. I thank the witnesses for their support.

“The team effort from the police officers involved, counsel and the CPS and the determination that was shown. Justice has been served swiftly by unanimous jury in a non-recent, complex child sexual abuse case. There is vindication for the victims who were subject to most serious sexual offending by a predatory and dangerous individual who was in position of trust and who was meant to care for them not harm them.

“It is the hope of the victim’s that their actions in coming forward and reporting these crimes will assist others in doing the same and help towards rebuilding lives.

“Thames Valley Police will always listen to anyone who wishes to make a report regarding matters such as this, which are non-recent. The impact they have on victims cannot be underestimated and officers will work tirelessly to investigate reports and bring offenders like Imeson to court.”