Latest Offenders Suffolk

Description

A National Crime Agency investigation found that Samuel Ward, 27, from Newmarket, Suffolk, approached victims on social media and offered to send large amounts of money in exchange for explicit images.

The investigation began with a report from a 17-year-old girl in Florida to U.S. law enforcement, who passed information onto the NCA.

She was contacted by two Instagram accounts in May 2020, offering a “weekly allowance” of $500 for sexual images and videos of her.

An additional message from one of the accounts said “well just to prove I have the funds”, and was accompanied by a doctored image of a bank account showing a balance of £98,606.80.

It then directed her to send increasingly explicit photos, but the user never revealed their true identity nor transferred any money to her.

NCA investigators identified Ward as the person controlling the two Instagram accounts, and discovered that he had proposed online ‘sugar daddy’ arrangements to a further 40 women and girls – 33 of whom were in the UK, with six in the U.S. and one in Ireland.

Many rejected the proposal, however officers identified 18 victims of his scam in total, including four aged under 18.

He approached multiple victims at a time on platforms including Instagram, Snapchat and Tinder from 2019 to 2021, employing the same method of offering money for explicit images and often sending them the same fake image of his account balance.

One 23-year-old victim was offered £3,000 by Ward in return for what he described as “non-explicit” images.

He mocked up an image of a transaction receipt showing £3,000 sent from his account to hers, and she began sending Ward the images and videos he requested.

However, upon checking her bank statement it displayed a payment for £3 sent by Ward. When she queried him on it, he replied, “3? I didn’t send 3, I sent £3,000”.

Another victim, aged 17 and known to Ward, reported to police that he had coerced and pressured her into sending a total of 57 indecent images between November 2019 and March 2020.

Chat logs on iMessage obtained by investigators revealed her nervousness to send the images, to which Ward responded with statements including, “I have needs” and “if u loved me u would have made some kind of effort”.

To counter her reluctance he offered £10,000 for ten photos. After sending him the images he demanded, she asked for the money and he sent her £1 to prove he would pay her, but never paid the full amount.

Following his arrest, NCA investigators reviewed Ward’s bank statements which showed he was in his overdraft for the entirety of his two-year offending period, and confirmed he had made the £3 and £1 payments.

Ward pleaded guilty to 19 charges in April 2023, including fraud, possession of an article for use in fraud, making indecent images of children and malicious communication.

He appeared at Peterborough Crown Court today [13 November] and a judge sentenced him to 30 months in prison and handed him a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Adam Priestley, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “Ward relentlessly targeted teenage girls and young women online with promises of payments he never intended on sending, nor had the means to do so.

“I would like to commend the victims who assisted our enquiries, including the 17-year-old from the U.S. who first reported Ward’s offending to the police. Her brave actions led to an international investigation that has seen Ward brought to justice, and identified many more victims of his abuse.

“At the NCA we are committed to catching offenders who pose a threat to vulnerable people in the UK, and this investigation shows how we work with partners around the world to tackle serious online criminality.

“We urge anyone who has been pressured or deceived into sending sexual images online to report it to the police. You are not alone, and there is always help available.”

The NCA’s CEOP Education programme supports parents, carers, children and professionals to ensure young people have safe and positive experiences online.

Anyone being pressured or threatened into sending sexual images or videos online should remove themselves immediately from the conversation, not respond further to any contact, and report the matter to police or a trusted adult.

Description

A ‘pupil’ of one of the most dangerous internet sexual predators ever investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) has admitted a raft of blackmail and online sex offences.

Anthony ‘Danny’ Burns, originally from Lowestoft, worked with notorious online child sex offender Adbul Elahi, who was jailed for 32 years in December 2021 after targeting 2,000 people globally to commit sadistic online abuse.

Between May 2018 and March 2021, Burns, 39, used ‘sugar daddy’ websites to trap dozens of unsuspecting females into performing sexual and degrading acts under the threat of blackmail.

One of his 39 victims was an eight-year-old girl in the United States who was abused by her mother following sustained coercion by Burns.

Burns, of no fixed adobe, attempted to contact approximately 600 people around the world with the intention of sexually exploiting them and work is ongoing by international partners to identify any further victims.

Elahi ‘tutored’ Burns on the psychology of blackmail, including techniques such as scripted wording to help gain the trust of victims, and provided instruction on how they would respond to threats and what to say to them.

Burns used multiple online personas to ensnare his victims, including posing as the head of a model agency searching for clients. He also pretended to be an NCA officer on one occasion.

Once Burns had gained the trust of his victims, he moved them to WhatsApp which is protected by end to end encryption. Once his messages had been read, Burns was able to delete them from his and his victims’ phones, thereby removing visible evidence.

All the victims were ordered to film themselves carrying out sexual acts in the belief they would be paid £600, but the money was never transferred to them.

When he had received enough explicit material, Burns threatened to expose the pictures to the victims’ families and friends unless they sent more increasingly depraved photographs and videos.

The severity and nature of the demands became more degrading at the point that Burns had entrapped the victims through the threat of exposure.

NCA officers arrested Burns in February 2019. His mobile phone and computers were seized and forensically examined.

NCA Operations Manager Robert Slater said: “Anthony Burns showed remorseless cruelty in controlling and coercing his victims, including very young children, into acts which have left them severely traumatised.

“The NCA is determined to identify and pursue the most harmful child sexual offenders, including those who exploit technology to hide their activities and target large numbers of victims, no matter where they are.

“Anyone being pressured or threatened into sending sexual images or videos online, should remove themselves immediately from the conversation, not respond further to any contact, and report the matter to police.

“You are not alone, you are not to blame and there is always help available.”

The FBI provided assistance to the investigation and helped locate victims in the United States.

Most of Burns’ other victims lived in England but there were also people in the Channel Islands and Australia.

Burns used a New Zealand-based cloud storage facility to retain all of the illegally gained material so that it would never be found on his phone.

However, incriminating evidence uncovered by NCA investigators from his phone highlighted the scale and propensity of his offending, and that he was blackmailing several victims simultaneously.

The NCA liaised with New Zealand authorities and evidence was recovered which proved Burns had the depraved material he demanded from his victims.

Burns was charged with 46 counts including blackmail, attempted blackmail, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, arranging the commission of a child sex offence; making and distributing indecent images of children (IIOC), possessing extreme pornography, malicious communications offences and failure to comply with notification requirements.

He admitted 39 counts and was found guilty of a further two today, following a two-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court. He is due to be sentenced at the same court on 18 January 2024.

The remaining five charges will lie on file.

All 39 of Burns’ victims on the indictment, aged between eight and 54, have been safeguarded.

Burns was previously jailed for 16 months in 2010 for meeting or communicating with a child under 16 following sexual grooming; causing / inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual acts, IIOC offences and possession of extreme pornography.

In December 2013, he was convicted of breaching his Sexual Offences Order, and served a further two years imprisonment.

Bethany Raine, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, said: “Anthony Burns had an obsessive interest in controlling women and children into performing increasingly degrading sexual acts online for his own gratification. Burns also had a perverse desire to see others engage in sexual activity with children and animals.

“Burns belittled and humiliated victims. They became trapped in a web of fear where their own images became tools of manipulation and extortion, leaving them vulnerable to his depraved demands.

“This conviction sends a clear message that the CPS is committed in bringing offenders like Burns, who sexually abuse and exploit victims, to justice, wherever that abuse takes place.”

Description

A former Metropolitan Police officer who abused his position to prey on women and girls has been jailed for 16 years for a series of rapes spanning eight years.

Ex-Pc Adam Provan's predatory behaviour dated back to the 1990s and went unchecked until one of his victims came forward, Wood Green Crown Court heard.

Between 2003 and 2005, he also repeatedly raped a female police officer and terrorised her so she feared for her life, the court was told.

Prosecutors said Provan was obsessed with young women, had viewed teenage pornography and collected more than 700 female contacts on his mobile phone.

Another female officer complained in 2005 that Provan sent her "nuisance" messages but nothing was done and the issue was dealt with "informally", the court was told.

He also allegedly contacted a 16-year-old girl after she gave her details as a witness in 2003.

Two other women made allegations but a rape case was not proceeded with and a sexual assault case ended in acquittal.

In 2016, Lauren Taylor came forward to say Provan raped her on a blind date when she was 16 in 2010.

Ms Taylor, now 29, had agreed to go to the cinema with Provan after he lied about his age, saying he was 22, and said he was a police officer.

Instead, Provan, then 31, took her to woods, where he had sex with her even though she repeatedly told him no.

Speaking of her ordeal in an interview with the PA news agency after waiving her right to anonymity, she said: "Basically he raped me. I remember holding on to the tree. I was kind of hugging the tree like emotional support, pretended I was anywhere else in the world but back there. I remember it can't have been long, but it felt like a long time."

Afterwards, he acted as if nothing had happened and took Ms Taylor to a McDonald's for a milkshake before forcing her to engage in a sex act in a children's playground.

Ms Taylor said: "I remember in the far distance there was a crowd of people. I was just praying that maybe someone would see me, someone would see what was going on."

Provan even discussed what films he might claim they went to see before taking her home.

Sentencing him, Judge Noel Lucas KC said the particularly “troubling” aspect was that he was a police officer and “someone members of the public have an entitlement to feel was someone of the highest trustworthiness”.

He told Provan: “By your actions, you brought disgrace on the police force,” adding he had displayed a “cold-blooded entitlement to sex” then immediately behaved as if everything was “completely normal”.

The judge said he was troubled by the way the Met handled the female police officer’s initial complaints against Provan’s behaviour in 2005.

He said those who dealt with them at the Met “were more concerned with looking after one of their own than taking her seriously” and had an investigation been taken forward, the 16-year-old victim may have been spared.

The judge paid tribute to both victims, saying they had been “extremely courageous” in reading out their impact statements in court.

All the offences were committed while Provan was a serving officer in the Met's East Area Command Unit.

Police said they were working to identify if there may be further victims and “would encourage anyone with information to come forward.”

A spokesperson said: “We are also reviewing Provan’s full history in the Met, and before he joined, to identify any concerns and whether we could have taken action against him sooner.”

His first trial for double rape ended in a hung jury but he was convicted in 2018 and jailed for nine years. The next year, he was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police.

He served three years and three months in prison - only to be released on bail after the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial.

At the fresh trial, Ms Taylor gave evidence for a third time and six more charges of rape, relating to Provan's earlier attacks on the female officer, were added.

In June, Provan, now 44 and from Newmarket in Suffolk, was found guilty of a total of eight rapes against the two women.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Taylor said: "No amount of justice will make me forget the date from hell.

"Even though I tried my best to block it out I will never forget how scared I was when the assault took place and 13 years later reliving my worst nightmare."

She told of being "triggered" by discussion around the murder of Sarah Everard by a Met police officer, saying she already knew about "bad cops".

The second victim, who has not waived her lifelong right to anonymity, told the court Provan regarded himself as "untouchable" and bragged about being a "trained killer".

She told the court she feared he would kill her and accused the Met of failing to protect her and deal with him after she complained about stalking and harassment behaviour in 2005.

The court was told Provan was given words of warning but the victim did not wish to make a statement at the time and came forward to report the rapes in 2019.

Judge Lucas told her the treatment she received from the Met was "abysmal", adding: "I hope it never happens again. More than abysmal, it's shocking."

Provan was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Tuesday to 16 years in prison with a further eight years on extended licence.

In her interview, Ms Taylor told PA: "I don't feel like I've done anything amazing. I just feel like I've done what I needed to do for me."

On Provan, she said: "I'm angry at what he's done to me. I'm angry about who he was. He was a police officer, and we go to them to be protected, and I wasn't protected.

"And I'm angry for the lack of remorse that he's shown throughout this whole process.

"I've been to court three times. He's still fully denied what he's done and even after being in prison for a certain amount of years, he's not had time to reflect and he's not changed, he's still who he is.

"The reason why I did the last retrial was because I wanted to make sure that he didn't go out and harm anyone else."

On her advice to others, she said: "Never be ashamed of what happened to you, because what happened to you is not your fault.

"When you're ready, talk to someone. It doesn't have to be a police officer, it can be a family member, it can be a friend, it can be a helpline."

Ms Taylor added: "You can't do anything until you're ready to face it. You might never be ready to face it. That's OK too.

"For me, I couldn't rest until I'd come forward and spoken about it."

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “I am sure the public will be as shocked and revolted at Provan’s offences as we are here in the Met. He abused his position as a police officer to win the trust of both these women. His actions are utterly deplorable.

“Both women have been enormously strong and courageous in giving evidence to the court – incredibly three times for one of the women - and ensuring Provan is now behind bars. I am so sorry for the pain and suffering he has caused them.

“The court heard that Provan had many women’s names on his phone - detectives are working through this list to understand how they may be linked to Provan and whether there are more offences we are unaware of. We are keen to hear from anyone who can help with any information, no matter how small. Provan is a dangerous offender and we are pursuing all lines of enquiry.

“We are examining Provan’s criminal and conduct history in the Met so we can fully understand whether we could have acted sooner to bring him before the courts, or have stopped him joining the police.

"This work is ongoing but we can already see there were key moments where we let women down and did not do all we could to support them. We have told the Independent Office for Police Conduct we are carrying out a review and advised them that we will make appropriate referrals.

“We heard in evidence that when one victim, a serving Met officer, reported allegations against Provan in 2005 these were not taken seriously. She therefore did not have the confidence to report she had been raped by him.

“We are sincerely sorry this was her experience and that she was let down by a system she trusted and was serving.

“The Met is transforming and I hope I can say with confidence her concerns would not be dismissed today. While we do not underestimate the impact of cases like this on the trust and confidence of women and girls that we are working so hard to earn, we would encourage anyone in a similar situation to report allegations. In the last year we have grown our professional standards teams to ensure we are robust in investigating matters at the earliest opportunity to rid the Met of those who very clearly should not be a part of policing.”

Description

A man who committed a "terrible" early hours sexual assault on a young woman in a Suffolk town has been jailed. Constantin Tulba, aged 34, of Edgecomb Road, Stowmarket, carried out the attack at approximately 1.15am on Sunday, June 4 earlier this year.

The victim, a woman aged in her early 20s, had been walking away from Stowmarket town centre towards Combs Ford. She was on Ipswich Road, when she became aware of a man walking close behind her.

The man grabbed hold of her, before sexually assaulting her. The woman resisted and escaped to an approaching car and the suspect ran away.

The male who was driving the car that disturbed Tulba then drove the victim to a nearby police vehicle that was on patrol. Officers conducted enquiries and the following day Tulba was arrested and subsequently charged. Tulba appeared before Ipswich Crown Court on Monday (August 21), where he was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment.

He had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault at a previous hearing on 5 July. The incident took place at approximately 1.15am on Sunday, June 4.

The court heard how police enquiries at Tulba’s property found the clothing which matched the description that he was wearing on the evening of the assault, and forensics linked him to the assault. Detective Sergeant Naomi Harger said: "This would have been an extremely concerning and frightening assault for the victim and I praise her for the courage and strength she has shown.

"I am extremely pleased to see Tulba behind bars after being handed this sentence, and hope this reassures the local community. However, it will be of little comfort I am sure for the victim who showed immense courage in speaking to police about the terrible ordeal she experienced. No prison term will ever make up for the trauma she suffered.

"I’d also like to thank the members of public who came forward as witnesses and who provided CCTV or dash cam footage for the case. This evidence is always really valuable in securing convictions.

"Anyone who is a victim of any sexual offence can be reassured that they can and should come forward and contact us. All complaints are taken seriously and we continue to work with partner agencies to provide victims with appropriate support whilst conducting a robust and thorough investigation."

Description

A US airman has been jailed for raping a 12-year-old autistic girl he met on Snapchat while stationed in the UK.

Despite knowing the victim's age, Dennis Rocha, 18, turned their conversation sexual and arranged to pick her up the following day. He drove 140 miles from his base at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk to meet the victim in Wiltshire in April this year.

Rocha of Beck Row, Mildenhall, Suffolk, collected the girl from her home address and took her to a secluded spot, where the pair had intercourse in his car.

At the time, the girl told police she regretted it and felt angry with herself. Her mother said her daughter was diagnosed with autism when she was just four years old - and to this day struggles to cope.

She said her daughter has difficulties with communication, won't speak to strangers, can't make eye contact, doesn't socialise with friends and can't deal with mainstream education.

The girl told police she was sorry this had affected others including her mother, who she said wanted her to be older and in love when she lost her virginity.

Rocha was jailed for six years and eight months - and imposed a one-year licence extension period, for two counts of rape of a child aged under 13.

Chris Smyth, prosecuting, said that during the encounter, which lasted approximately one hour, the pair had intercourse numerous times. On one of the occasions, the condom slipped off.

Sentencing Judge James Townsend said: 'You had ample opportunity to think twice about what you were doing but you persisted.

'You knew that she was far younger than you and obviously vulnerable.

The defendant was handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and must sign the sex offenders' register on release. He was also placed on the DBS barred list.

Investigating officer DC Amanda Lord, of the Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: 'Rocha instigated this encounter with the victim despite knowing she was underage.

'He knew what he was doing was illegal and had ample opportunity to cease contact with the victim, but continued and took advantage of her for his own gain.

Description

A man has been jailed for over three years for a string of offences relating to possession of indecent photos and other related crimes.

30 year old Richard Smith of the High Street in Lowestoft was jailed at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday 24 March after he pleaded guilty to possession of indecent photographs, namely 25 category A images and/or movies of children, 68 category B images and/or movies, of children and 64 category C images and/or movies, of children. He also pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs and possession of an extreme pornographic image and breach of SHPO (Sexual Harm Prevention Order)

Smith, was a known registered sex offender who was serving a suspended sentence following previous convictions for making indecent images of children. Officers became aware of a referral in October 2022 indicating his use of a Snapchat account with an indecent video of a child uploaded to the internet. Following further enquires made by officers, police attended his home address on 29 November 2022 and executed a warrant. He was arrested and subsequently charged. He also pleaded guilty to breach of SHPO (Secxual Harm Prevention Order)

For all of the offences he received a total custodial sentence of 42 months.

PC Nicola Flack from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team said: This was clear and blatant disregard by Smith with regards to his Sexual Harm Prevention Order. This order was put in place by the judicial system to protect the public from predators like Smith. We are very satisfied with this sentence which I hope goes some way to reassure the public of the police stance when it comes to subjects of such orders.

Internet crimes such as these are far from victimless and every image depicts the very real abuse a young child has suffered. We will do everything within our power to protect victims who are subjected to these potentially life changing acts of indecency purely for the gratification of others.

• Category A Images involving penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism.
• Category B Images involving non-penetrative sexual activity.
• Category C Indecent images not falling in categories A or B.

Description

A rape victim has been praised by police for their "strength and courage" after her attacker was jailed for nine years.

James MacKenzie, 32, has been locked up after he raped a woman and took naked pictures of her after she had been on a night out in Ipswich.

Mackenzie, of Kelsale, was found guilty of rape in the early hours of December 2 2018, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

The court was also told there was argument during which MacKenzie verbally abused the victim and struck her.

Suffolk police has now praised the victim, who cannot be named, for speaking out and helping put Mackenzie behind bars.

Investigating officer DC Kerry Bradley, of Suffolk police, said: "I’d like to pay tribute to the complainant’s strength and courage over a four-year period – she remained engaged during the whole investigative and judicial process.

"Whilst this was not easy, her evidence undoubtedly helped secure this conviction."

“It is important to point out that the victim was supported the whole time by an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) to ensure justice was done despite the passage of time.”

James Mackenzie was jailed at Ipswich Crown Court. Picture: Suffolk police (Image: Suffolk police)

Sentencing Mackenzie, Judge Emma Peters said that in addition to raping the victim he had punched her, thrown her off the bed and threatened to kill her.

Giving evidence, Mackenzie claimed the woman had touched him sexually and denied that she had said “no” and “stop it” when he had oral sex with her.

He accepted taking naked pictures of her but denied that she’d been trying to go to sleep at the time.

Mackenzie had denied orally raping the woman but was found guilty by a jury by a 10-2 majority verdict after a trial at Ipswich Crown Court last month.

As well as being jailed, Mackenzie was banned from contacting the victim indefinitely and ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

Description

A police officer says a jail sentence given to a man from Lowestoft for making and distributing indecent images of children demonstrates that the police will prosecute re-offenders.

57 year old Charles Moore of Oulton Road North in Lowestoft was jailed for a total of 27 months at Ipswich Crown court after he pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent image of children, possession of prohibited images and a breach of a sexual harm prevention order.

Moore, a registered sex offender, having been convicted in 2018 of making and distributing indecent images of children, as well as possession of prohibited images and possession of extreme pornography. He received a custodial sentence and, upon release, was being managed by the Public Protection Unit.

After his release from prison, police paid a routine visit to his home address in November 2021. Part of the visit saw officers scan his devices for any content which may be related to child abuse material, and it returned positive results on his desktop computer, indicating child abuse material was present.  As a result, his electronic devices were seized so further analysis could take place.

This further analysis established 5,260 category A images, 583 unique Category A videos, 6,786 Category B images, 693 Category B videos and 36,980 Category C images and 236 Category C videos on his devices, as well as being in possession of 20 prohibited images of a child.

Moore was subsequently charged in June 2022 in relation to these offences. At court on on Wednesday 8 February he was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and an order enforced for the destruction of his electronic devices.

PC Nicola Flack of the force’s Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team said: “This conviction and sentence demonstrates after an initial sentence for similar offences is served, we will not be afraid to prosecute re-offending and persistent online criminality. Internet crimes such as these are far from victimless, and every image depicts the very real abuse a young child has suffered. The prohibitions imposed through this new Sexual Harm Prevention Order allow the police to monitor his online behaviour for the next 10 years, reducing the risk to the public.”

Category A - Images involving penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism.

Category B - Images involving non-penetrative sexual activity.

Category C - Indecent images not falling within categories A or B

Description

A pervert turned up at a Newcastle hotel hoping to meet a 14-year-old boy he had been grooming online but was instead greeted by police.

Brett Lambert, described as a "risk-taking sexual thrill seeker", had expressed fears the online profile he had been engaging with was a decoy being run by the police or vigilantes but decided to go ahead with the meet-up anyway. When he checked into a hotel in Newcastle city centre, he found his fears had been correct and the '14-year-old boy' was actually an account set up by police

Newcastle Crown Court heard it was in May last year that oil rig worker Lambert was travelling home from Aberdeen on a train and went on the Fab Guys website. He got talking to someone whose profile suggested he was 18 but who said he was actually 14.

Lambert was told the lad was in class and asked for a picture and was sent an image of a boy in a school uniform holding a piece of paper. Lambert refused to send a picture of himself and asked if the boy knew any females who would have a threesome.

Lambert questioned if the profile was being run by a "nonce hunter" but when told they could cancel meeting up he said he was "still up for it and just nervous". He also told the boy to bring a condom.

Lambert arrived at the Easy Hotel, in Newcastle, took his bags to his room and went down to the lobby to meet the boy but was met by police and arrested. He claimed he had a "weird fetish" where he liked to arrange to meet people but just watch them and not engage with them. He added that he thought it was a vigilante group or the police and he was "intrigued who would turn up" and denied having any intention to follow through with any sexual activity.

Lambert, 29, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and was sentenced to 15 months suspended for two years with 100 hours unpaid work and rehabiliation. He was also ordered to sign the sex offender register and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years

Description

A 29-year-old man from Suffolk has been jailed for three years after sexually assaulting a lone teenage girl in a park.

Ipswich Crown Court heard Reece Mason, from Marine Parade in Lowestoft, had approached the girl and tried to chat to her.

Mason took her phone number and called and sent her messages before approaching her again later on in Kirkley Fen Park and touching her inappropriately over her clothes.

Police said it left the girl extremely traumatised and shaken.

Following police inquiries, Mason was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual touching and meeting a girl under 16 following grooming.

Mason pleaded not guilty to one sexual offence and also to the grooming offence – both these offences are to lie on file.

Following a guilty plea to the second sexual offence, the judge in court sentenced Mason to a custodial term of three years in jail and an extended period on licence of a further four years.

Det Insp Matt Adams from Lowestoft CID said: "The victim showed great courage in coming forward and I hope [the] result offers some form of closure for them.

"I am sure the incident will stay with her for a long time but truly hope the fact that Mason has paid for his actions will encourage them to remain strong and brave.

"This case shows that police will investigate reports of sexual offences thoroughly, with officers working closely with the victims of such offences to bring offenders to justice.”

Description

Police also found a toddler-sized doll, underwear and clothing for babies and young children, and a silicone aid made to resemble a child’s genitals.

The headteacher of a primary school who had a haul of child abuse material, including a paedophile manual and over one million indecent images, has been jailed for six years. Thomas Singleton, 41, was also one of the safeguarding leads at the school.

He was arrested by the National Crime Agency in February 2021, after investigators found he had accessed indecent images of children online from his house. Officers seized laptops and a number of digital storage devices from his home.

They also recovered a toddler-sized doll, underwear and clothing for babies and young children, and a silicone sex aid made to resemble a child’s genitals. Singleton does not have any children and when questioned, he could provide no explanation for who the doll and clothing belonged to.

Analysis of his electronic devices showed he had 1,050,448 indecent images of children in categories A-C, 45,216 prohibited images of children, and 52 extreme pornographic images. Within those were a collection of pseudo-images, which had been created by Singleton by superimposing himself into photos so it looked like he was engaging in sexual activity with children.

A 170 page paedophile manual was found on Singleton’s hard drive. The introduction to the document explains that it is ‘a guide to practicing sex with children without fear of doing harm’. It contains a number of chapters which provide advice and guidance on how to sexually abuse children and avoid being detected.

Officers also recovered a number of online chat logs in which he spoke with other like-minded individuals about child sexual abuse. Some chats show him partaking in ‘age play’, where both users participate in a fantasy in which one of them pretends to be a child engaging in sexual activity with the other.

On his devices and stored around his home, Singleton had documents which described child abuse scenarios and could be ‘personalised’ to include names of the user’s choosing. These also corresponded to hand-drawn flowcharts found in his house. Some of the charts were stored in a folder labelled ‘Tom’s Action Folder’ and described detailed sexual acts between the reader and the subject of the flowchart.

Singleton, from Suffolk, resigned as a teacher during the course of the investigation. He was charged with eight offences, including taking indecent pseudo-images of a child (categories A-B), making indecent images (categories A-C) and possession of a paedophile manual.

He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to six years in prison. He is also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and has been placed on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.

NCA Operations Manager Michael Parkinson said: “As a safeguarding lead and the Head of a primary school, Singleton supposedly represented a dependable figure of safety and trust for young children, their families and the school community. This investigation showed he grossly abused that position.

“His house was filled with a large, disturbing collection of items which proved beyond doubt his sexual interest in children. Of particular concern was an extensive paedophile manual which offered explicit, practical guidance on how to carry out abuse.

“This case highlights how an offender’s behaviour can escalate, from downloading abuse material to finding a community of like-minded individuals online who normalise and even encourage this criminal behaviour.

“Identifying such individuals at the earliest opportunity and disrupting this pattern of offending before they can commit real-world abuse is a top priority for the National Crime Agency.”

Description

A 26-year-old Stowmarket man who was found to have downloaded more than 2,000 indecent images and movies of children after he took his mobile phone into a shop in Ipswich has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Staff at the Vodafone shop in the town contacted the police after spotting indecent images on Luke Crightons phone when he took it into the shop for an upgrade, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Following his arrest, Crighton told officers: I know Ive done wrong. Im trying to stop and get help. How long will I go to prison for?

Crighton, of Eve Balfour Way, Stowmarket, admitted six offences of making indecent images and videos of children and two offences of producing two indecent videos of children.

Juliet Donovan, prosecuting, said that in addition to Crightons phone police had seized other devices from him and when they were analysed they were found to contain 495 still indecent images of children and 140 movies in the most serious level A category, 319 still images and 28 movies in category B and 1,147 images and 44 movies in the lowest level C category.

Police also discovered two category C indecent movies of children that Crighton had filmed himself.

Sentencing Crighton, Judge Emma Peters described what hed done as a disgusting addiction" and described the indecent images and videos as vile.

She gave Crighton a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to do 180 hours of unpaid work.

She also ordered him to take part in a sex offenders treatment programme and gave him a 30 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Crighton, who has a ten-month-old baby, was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for ten years and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for the same period.

He was also ordered to pay 380 costs.

Claire Matthews, for Crighton, said he realised he was in jeopardy of an immediate custodial sentence.

She said he had made admissions to the police from the outset and had been open with his family about what hed done.

Miss Matthews said Crighton came from a good law-abiding family who did not understand or condone his behaviour.

She said Crighton had moved back home with his parents and his family was now ensuring he didnt re-offend.

Miss Matthews said Crighton had completed eight two-hour group work sessions to address his offending behaviour.

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A MAN has been jailed after being convicted of sexually assaulting two teenage girls.

John Andow, 78, knew exactly what he was doing when his physical contact with his two child victims turned sexual, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

The sex offender had denied seven counts of sexual activity with a child, but was convicted of two counts following a trial last month.

Andow, of Normandie Way, Bures, was acquitted of five counts - and he was cleared of a further count of causing a child to watch a sexual act.

At a sentencing hearing, statements were read which detailed the trauma felt by Andows two victims.

One victim said the offence had affected her ability to communicate and her relationships with people.

Its affected everything, she said.

The girl said she suffered from insomnia, adding that since the assault she cant bear to be touched.

The second victim said: In my head it was chaos.

I felt completely on my own, noone understood how I felt or what Id been through.

Judge Timothy Walker said each of the offences involved touching two girls under their clothing.

He said: You would start massaging and progressively move up.

The massages lasted between ten and 20 minutes.

Turning to one victim, he said: You told her not to do anything that she didnt want to and if she was uncomfortable then she should use a stop word chocolate.

You knew exactly what you were doing.

He added: In evidence you accepted that you had massaged both girls and you went as far as accepting the area of their sternums although you denied massaging their breasts.

Unsurprisingly, you were not believed.

Roderick Johnson QC, mitigating, described the offences as short-lived temptation. He added: The temptation arose which led Mr Andow to momentarily lose his moral compass which had otherwise been his guide all his life.

Mr Johnson said the victim impact statements should be tempered, with the jury having rejected most of the allegations made.

But Judge Walker said Andow had carried out two sexual assaults on vulnerable girls.

He sentenced to 30 months in prison and made him subject of a ten-year sexual harm prevention order prohibiting unsupervised contact with children.

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An Ipswich paedophile who downloaded indecent images and videos of children, including babies, and distributed them to other people has been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Sentencing 47-year-old Edmund Hall Judge Emma Peters described some of the videos and images, especially some of babies being abused, as horrific and said: For some inexplicable reason you have an interest in the sexual abuse of babies.

She said when he was 17 Hall had joined the Catholic priesthood and had had to repress his sexuality.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that police officers seized an iPhone from Edmund Halls home in May 2021 and when it was analysed it was found to contain more than 200 indecent images and videos of children.

Nicola May, prosecuting, said that 58 of the indecent images of and 55 videos were in the most serious level A category, 60 of the still images and 16 videos were in category B and 15 still images were in the lowest level C category.

She said some of the children in the images and videos were under a year old.

In addition to the indecent images and videos of children a prohibited image of a child was also found.

Miss May said Hall had used search terms including babies, paedo, younger and rape to search for the material.

There was also evidence that Hall had been distributing indecent images and videos of children to like minded people and had given advice about how to hide what they were doing.

Hall, 47, of Dunlop Road, Ipswich admitted three offences of making indecent images and videos of children in May last year, one offence of possessing a prohibited image of children, five offences of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and four offences of distributing indecent images of children.

The court heard that Hall has previous convictions for making indecent images of children dating back to 2013.

He is currently the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order which has been ordered to continue. He will also have to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Lynne Shirley for Hall said he was remorseful and had spent some time in custody.

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A SEX offender who was caught touching a womans feet on a train told his victim: I bet you wish you had a boyfriend like me.

Samuel Creed, 21, was jailed for more than two years after sexually assaulting two women.

The predator was hit with a criminal behaviour order after he was convicted of a sexual assault carried out at Stowmarket railway station in February 2020.

The order banned him from travelling on the railway network or speaking to any passengers.

But he breached the order under a year later when he approached another woman on a train between Manningtree and Colchester.

In May last year, Creed approached the victim and started speaking to her about her shoes.

The woman ignored him, but he touched her shoes and squeezed her ankle, telling her: I bet you wish you had a boyfriend like me to do this to you at night.