Latest Offenders York

Description

A York man who hid images of children being sexually abused on his mobile phone has been hauled before a judge at York Crown Court again. David Stansfield, of Stirrup Close in Foxwood, served a prison sentence in 2016 for possessing indecent images of children- some involving a child who was just one year old. Police officers turned up at Stansfields home unannounced on 6 February, and found he had breached the rules of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order he has to comply with on his release from prison. The 45-year-old had failed to declare an iPhone found in his car and an iPad he had recently bought. Stansfield told police he had bought the iPad for gaming and insisted the police knew about his iPhone. Judge Sean Morris said: I dont see any point in locking him up for four weeks. There was nothing found on his devices. Hes got a job. Hes re-established himself in the community. He told Stansfield, who now works as a delivery driver, this will be the only time you will walk out of the public entrance of court for a breach of an order. Its not rocket science. Get it in your head. You must obey the order. Youll go to prison next time. Stansfield was handed an 18 month Community Order with a 10 day rehabilitation requirement. His undeclared devices will be destroyed.

Description

A Huntington man who downloaded indecent images of children for five years told police he had "titillating and entertaining" pictures on his computer, York Crown Court heard.

But he denied being sexually interested in youngsters.

He tried to blame other people by claiming he was not the only one using his computer.

Patrick Palmer, prosecuting, said after police found more than 100 illegal images on his computer, Roy Dean admitted he was the only one who had access to the desktop.

Dean, 63, of Broome Close, Huntington, pleaded guilty to three charges of having indecent images of children.

“Until people like you stop looking at such images the market in them continues to thrive,” Judge Simon Hickey told him.

He gave him an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years on condition Dean does 40 days' rehabilitation activities. He will also be on the sex offenders register and subject to a sexual harm prevention order restricting his use of the internet for 10 years.

Graham Parkin, for Dean, said he had been working on addressing his sexual behaviour since his arrest.

Mr Palmer said police raided Dean's home on May 7, after being told that sexual images of children had been downloaded at his address on March 14.

He told them he had only been looking at adult pornography and that he had "titillating and entertaining" images on his computer.

"An aggravating feature which I don't like in this case if you suggested others had access to your material or your desktop, something you now resile from," said Judge Hickey.

Mr Palmer said police confiscated Dean's desktop computer and several USB sticks and found illegal images on four of the sticks and on the desktop.

They found 36 images of the worst kind of sexual abuse, 19 of the next category and 87 of the lowest category, all downloaded between 2015 and 2020.

They also found evidence he had been actively searching for sexual images of children.

Interviewed again, Dean admitted that he and he alone was responsible for the images.

Description

Benjamin Middlemiss, 25, of Oxcroft, Kirkbymoorside, was released on prison licence in July last year, halfway through his sentence for indecent assault, York Crown Court heard.

As part of his licence conditions, Middlemiss was given an exemption under his bail curfew to work at a Tesco store in York, but the authorities suspected he had not been going to work and not been residing at his bail address in keeping with the provisos.

In fact, this was an “administrational error” and Middlemiss had been working at the supermarket, but when police tried to contact him to inform him that he was wanted for prison recall, he didn’t reply, said prosecutor Rob Galley.

An officer went looking for Middlemiss and stopped him in his Ford Ka in York on December 15, when it was discovered that he only had a provisional driving licence.

The officer told him he was wanted for prison recall and took him by the arm, but as he was being led to the cells in York, Middlemiss shoved her backwards and she let go of him.

He ran off and despite an exhaustive search, police couldn’t find him. The fugitive vanished for a week but finally returned to his bail hostel on December 22, where he was arrested.

Middlemiss admitted escaping from lawful custody and driving with only a provisional licence. He was recalled to Hull Prison to serve the remainder of his original sentence and appeared via video link for sentence on the new offences on Monday.

The court heard he had previous convictions for arson, theft from vehicles, criminal damage and making off without payment. He received the nine-year sentence for sexual offences in December 2013.

Defence barrister Alex Menary said Middlesmiss’s current sentence would expire in four years’ time, but there were moves to release him “sooner rather than later” because of the progress he had been making in prison.

He said Middlemiss had “shrugged off” the officer following his arrest for the driving matter and prison recall, after “panicking because he thought he had done nothing wrong and had been to work”.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said that following Middlemiss’s release on licence last summer, it appeared that he was getting his life back on track and “doing everything expected of you”.

But escaping from custody and evading capture “for about seven days” was so serious that it could only be met with another prison sentence.

Middlemiss was handed a new four-month jail term. His existing sentence for the sex offences is due to expire in January 2023, but it’s likely he could be released before then.

Description

The cannibal killer who raped and murdered paedophile Richard Huckle committed his first sex offence in Northern Ireland aged just 12.

Paul Fitzgerald laughed in court as he was sentenced to 34 years for the brutal murder of his fellow inmate in Full Sutton Prison last year.

He’d strangled Huckle with an electrical cable and raped him with a kitchen implement before stabbing him repeatedly with a makeshift knife during the assault last October.

In the frenzied attack, which went on for 80 minutes, Huckle was also stabbed in the neck and had a pen pushed up his nose into his brain.

The 30-year-old murderer told prison guards he’d planned to cook and eat parts of his victim, and then subject other inmates to the same fate, but he was having ‘too much fun’ with Huckle.

Fitzgerald said it was a form of ‘poetic justice’ because his 33-year-old victim was one of the most notorious paedophiles in the UK. Hiding behind his cover as a Christian teacher and a freelance photographer, he had abused 191 children and was serving 22 life sentences.

Targeted

But the pair has some sick traits in common – they had both started offending at an early age, targeted very young children and kept journals of their depraved behaviour. The Northern Ireland man has boasted in one diary entry, ‘I’m a paedophile and I’m the best.’

In court this week Fitzgerald was branded a psychopath by the presiding judge.

He committed his first offence at the age of 12 when his sexually assaulted a four-year-old child in 2004.

He was convicted of the offence at the age of 13 and received threats from loyalist paramilitaries.

Social Services moved him to Wales and gave him his current identity, but he offended again just two years later when he attacked a frail pensioner in 2006.

Following that attack he was sent to a hostel in West Yorkshire where he was the only inmate, and under constant supervision by two staff members.

When he was left alone for seconds in the hostel’s kitchen he absconded and tried to attack a dog walker, holding a fork to her throat and threatening to stab her if she screamed.

The terrified woman was able to fight him off and when Fitzgerald was picked up by police he was carrying the fork and a jar of Vaseline.

A search of his room uncovered his journals which he had written in code but the key to the code was in the same room and police were able to decipher his sordid fantasies.

He’d written about his desire to anally rape women and his paedophilia urges. Fitzgerald also declared, ‘I love raping women’ and vowed he would never stop reoffending.

Assault

In 2009 he was convicted of offences including assault and assault with the intent to commit rape and sentenced to almost four years, with the recommendation that he should be jailed indefinitely until he was no longer a danger.

Huckle, from Ashford in Kent, was jailed in 2016 for a litany of offences against children so long it took almost an hour to read them out in court.

He’d written a guide for paedophiles on how to prey on poor children because he claimed no one cared about them. He’d boasted about abusing a three-year-old girl ‘as loyal to me as my dog and no one seemed to care’.

All of his offences took place in Malaysia although he had travelled extensively around south-east Asia. He shared vile images with fellow paedophiles, awarding himself points for each child he abused, but much of the encrypted material he created was never decoded by police.

The pair met in the prison’s Delta wing where sex offenders and inmates who struggled with life on the inside were housed.

On October 13 last year Fitzgerald went into Huckle’s cell with the intention of murdering and eating him.

Harming

At his recent trial in Hull Crown Court the Northern Ireland man said he had been planning the murder for a week. He admitted to having ‘intrusive’ thoughts about harming other prisoners but had decided that Huckle would be his first victim.

Giving evidence, Fitzgerald said he’d raped his victim with the four-inch kitchen implement because he “wanted him to know what it felt like”.

He abandoned his plans to kill anyone else because he was “having too much fun” with Huckle.

After the killing, when prison staff said he appeared emotionless, a search uncovered another two makeshift knives in his cell.

At the trial two psychiatrists testified that Fitzgerald had lived with a conduct disorder from an early age, gender personality dysphoria and a personality disorder.

Sentencing the killer, the Honourable Mr Justice Lavender told him by video link last week: “You are a psychopath and derive pleasure from imagining torturing, raping, killing and even eating others.

“You went into his cell equipped and intended to rape and kill Mr Huckle and if possible, cook and eat parts of him.

‘As you said yourself, you committed murder in cold blood,” said the judge.

Description

A paedophile has been jailed for eight years for the rape and abuse of a child under 13.

Andrew Rutter was charged with a catalogue of child sex offences, carried out against a youngster several years ago.

In March this year, he pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child under 13, causing or inciting sexual activity with a child under 13, sexual assault of a child under 13 and rape of a child under 13.

The 41-year-old, of Goldrill Gardens in Redcar, was due to be sentenced in April however this was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday and was jailed for eight years.

Judge Paul Watson QC also imposed an additional one year on extended licence following Rutter's release from prison.

He will be on the sex offenders' register indefinitely and was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A sick pensioner who sexually abused three boys has been jailed for nearly 20 years.

One of Robert Brady's victims repeatedly tried to take his own life after years of abuse including rape.

The determined pervert groomed two other victims with cash and even molested one of them after being released on police bail.

The 79-year-old, of Springfield Avenue, Batley, was jailed for 19-and-a-half years on Monday after admitting 11 charges in relation to historic and recent child sex abuse.

Jailing Brady, Judge Robin Mairs told him "You have nothing but callous disregard for the pain, both physical and mental, that you inflict on your victims."

Prosecutor Matthew Bean said the abuse of the first victim became penetrative and more violent over time. Speaking about one incident, the judge said: "This was degrading, violent and systemic abuse of a young child."

The victim began physically defending himself as he got older and stronger. On the final occasion, the victim bit Brady's penis. Brady reacted by assaulting him but did not sexually abuse him again. Leeds Crown Court heard the victim tried to take his own life a number of times. 

The judge said: "Those I am quite satisfied were real suicide attempts. That is the catastrophic effect of child abuse."

After the first time Brady sexually abused the second victim, he gave him £5 and told him that if he did not tell anyone he would get more money.

The next time Brady saw the boy he tried to rape him and gave him £20. The victim told him: "Get off. It burns." Brady replied: "That's what you get."

On another occasion, Brady got the second victim and another teenager alone together and told them they had 'the best two bums in Batley'. He abused them in front of each other and gave them £80.

The second victim's mother noticed that her son had topped up his Xbox Live account with £80 and asked where the money came from. The boys were honest about the abuse.

She confronted the defendant and he admitted what he had done. 

Police were called and an investigation began. Brady made no comment in his police interview.

He was released on police bail but just two-and-a-half months later he got one of the boys alone and sexually assaulted him again. Brady gave the boy £150 this time and told him that he would hurt him if he told anyone.

Again, the victim spent the money on Xbox credit, his mother noticed and she confronted the defendant. The defendant admitted that he had seen the boy but denied sexually abusing him on this occasion. She told him she was contacting police again and he said: "F**k off."

He made no comment in his second police interview.

The first victim went to police after learning that the abuse of the other victims had been reported to the police. He told police that not being believed by the adult who he had told about the abuse left him feeling defeated.

In relation to the first victim, Brady pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault, two counts of rape and one count of gross indecency.

In relation to the second and third victim, he pleaded guilty to three counts of assault by penetration, one count of attempted rape and one count of attempted assault by penetration. He has no previous convictions.

Kate Batty, mitigating, said the defendant is aware of the 'very real likelihood' that he will never be released from custody. She asked the judge to reduce her client's sentence to reflect his guilty pleas.

Brady, who appeared in court via video link from Leeds prison, was also made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Police statement
PC Alexis Stansfield, of Kirklees District Child Safeguarding Unit, who led the investigation, said:  "Robert Brady committed appalling acts against young and vulnerable victims who were in no position to defend themselves and we are pleased to see him receive a substantial sentence in court for his crimes.

"He has clearly still posed a huge danger to children will into his later 70s and is without doubt a significantly predatory offender.

"This was a harrowing investigation and I wish to pay tribute to the victims who had the courage to support our enquiries and help put this very dangerous man behind bars.

"I'm pleased his guilty plea spared them seeing the case taken to trial and hope they may gain some comfort from seeing Brady brought to justice, knowing he has received such a significant prison sentence at such a late stage in his life."

Description

On April 22 Shaqeel Hussain of Spen Valley Road was jailed for 12 months in a separate criminal case, also investigated as part of the wider Operation Tendersea enquiry.

The 36-year-old pleaded guilty to an indecent assault committed in Huddersfield between 2004 and 2005 on a 16-year-old girl.

In a previous Operation Tendersea trial in February 2020, relating to the sexual abuse of two girls in the Huddersfield area between 1995 and 2011, Hussain was jailed for eight years for the rape of a 14 year old girl. He was told he must serve the 12 months consecutive to the eight year term he is currently serving.

Manzoor Akhtar (31) from Crosland Moor in Huddersfield was sentenced to four years, six months at Leeds Crown Court on April 22 after being found guilty of raping a young girl between 2005-2006.

Akhtar became the latest man to be convicted as part of West Yorkshire Police’s multi part Operation Tendersea investigation into the sexual abuse of young girls in Huddersfield between 1995 and 2011.

During proceedings, the court heard he subjected his victim to sexual assault when she was between 13-14 years old.

Commenting on the conviction of Manzoor Akhtar, Detective Chief Inspector Richard McNamara of the Kirklees District CID, said: “Akhtar richly deserves the prison sentence he has been given after being found guilty and convicted for the dreadful sexual abuse of this young victim.

“He thought nothing of this girl’s obvious very young age as he raped her and treated her in a fashion which can only be described as callous in the extreme.”

DCI McNamara said he was also pleased that the force was now able to name Shaqeel Hussain.

He said: “Hussain was convicted for rape in an Operation Tendersea trial in February 2020 but at the time we were not able to release his identity. He has now been sentenced after pleading guilty to an indecent assault on a 16 year old victim, and can be named as reporting restrictions have been lifted.

“He will face a total of nine years in prison in total for both of these depraved offences in which he showed no regard whatsoever for his victims.

He added: “A repeated feature of these cases has been the stunning bravery of the now young women who have come forward to tell us about the abuse they suffered and then doing everything they can to support the police and CPS in taking action against those who abused them.

“The courage of victims is helping us take dangerous predators such as Manzoor Akhtar and Shaqeel Hussain off our streets, show them for what they are, and put them behind bars where they belong.”

Description

A teenager dubbed "paedo Jack" is facing prison after admitting a string of terrifying sex offences against teenage girls.

Jack Walker, 19, has appeared at Hull Crown Court charged with four offences of sexual activity with a child, one offence of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two offences of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Walker, of Fort Terrace, Bridlington, appeared via video link from Hull Prison where he has been remanded since August, ready for his sentencing hearing - which will take place on Friday.

As his crimes were laid out before the court, Walker regularly shook his head before pleading guilty to all seven charges, which revolved around grooming underage children.

Charlotte Baines, prosecuting, told the court the charges related to a 14-year-old girl, who at one point Walker had asked to move to Bradford with him.

She told the court that Walker had been warned by both his mum and Humberside Police to stay away from the girl.

Throughout his offending, Walker was placed under child abduction warning notices, which are used to disrupt contact between vulnerable children and an adult where there are concerns that the child may be at risk of harm including sexual exploitation.

Miss Baines said: The girl said she had been involved in a group of males for sexual contact and she said she felt sick and disgusted in herself, but felt normal when she did it. She said she felt pressured.

The girl later told officers she had often taken drugs when around Walker.

Miss Baines said that one night after smoking together, Walker had sat her on his knee and touched her [the girl]".

She told the court: "He didnt ask if he could, he just did it. He tried getting her to go upstairs with him, saying 'come on, you know you want to do it'.

She told police she had messaged him telling her how old she was and he sent her indecent pictures and asked her to do the same.

"He sent her messages about taking her virginity and making sure it wouldnt hurt. He tried to convince her to have sex with him on two or three occasions.

The court heard that after locking himself and the girl in a beach hut, Walker said her body was perfect before telling her "not to tell anyone about what he said".

Miss Baines added: He said I will get into trouble - you dont want that do you?. One friend of the girl said that everyone knew him as 'paedo Jack'."

Other charges against Walker related to another 14-year-old girl.

Miss Baines told the court that the girl had said many people around the ages of 14 and 15 would often be round at Walkers flat.

She told the court: The girl said she could often hear Walker and his girlfriend having sex and this would make her uncomfortable and she would turn the music up. She was asked to join them a few times and knew what had been meant by that.

She described how she would keep an eye on him as she knew he had ADHD, bipolar and anger issues.

Hull Crown Court heard that Walker had sex with the young girl an estimated ten times, including in a disused building, which was witnessed by a teenage boy who said he felt that he had been coerced into watching.

Miss Baines said the boy knew that it was not right that Walker was having sex with underage girls.

She told the court: He recalled a time when he had seen the defendant and one of the girls and went to speak to them and Walker had said, Im s******* this one now.

He went with them to an abandoned building and the defendant had sex with the girl. The defendant told him to sit down on a log and watch. He said he didnt want to get stabbed as the defendant had a screwdriver in his pocket.

The girl said, Does he have to watch? and the defendant had said Let him stay. He said he was scared of him and by talking to police after he said it felt like a betrayal."

Walker was first interviewed by police in June last year and said there had been no messages between him and the first girl.

The court heard that during his second interview with officers in August last year, Walker said he "did not understand what consent means", although he later pleaded guilty to all seven charges.

Paul Genney, mitigating for Walker, told how he lives with a learning disability and a low IQ and a pre-sentence report and psychological report had been issued.

Mr Genney outlined details of Walkers traumatic childhood which included living in a violent home.

He said: Hes damaged, basically. Whether he is beyond the point of redemption, it is difficult to know. He has been tearful and crying while in prison and misses, in his words his 'mummy and his Lego'.

Hes obviously something of a child himself. Hes damaged by his upbringing."

Mr Genney said Walker was not a manipulative or sophisticated", but instead, someone in need of help and treatment".

He added: Hes got the sophistication of a 14-year-old himself, with very little empathy. We cant penalise him for being unintelligent.

Talking about Walkers time in custody so far, Mr Genney said: He is vulnerable and tearful and is finding it to be the most traumatic experience. Hopefully someone, somewhere can offer him some sort of course or help that could help increase his sense of empathy or sensitivity.

Walker will be sentenced by Judge John Thackray on Friday, April 3.

Description

Leeds Crown Court heard there was no other evidence other than 21-year-old Jacob Daniel's admissions that he had sexually assaulted a boy and a girl.

Prosecutor, Philip Standfast, said Daniel, of Partridge Crescent, Thornhill Dewsbury, contacted police in March 2019.

Mr Standfast said Daniel told officers what he had done and "that he should not get away with it."

Daniel admitted one charge of sexual assault on a girl and one charge of sexual activity with a girl.

He also admitted one charge of sexual assault on a boy and sexual activity with a boy.

The offences took place in West Yorkshire 2018 and the children, who were both aged under 10.

The court heard how in February 2019 the girl told her mother that Daniel had kissed her and the mother called police, who interviewed Daniel.

The court heard Daniel admitted kissing the girl and was made the subject of a caution.

The following month Daniel called police and said he had committed the offences.

Mr Standfast said: "The defendant came forward and voluntarily admitted offences that had not been disclosed by either of the two children involved."

The court heard Daniel has previous convictions for possessing an offensive weapon and battery.

Kitty Colley, mitigating, said Daniel is an "immature and naive" man who had abused alcohol and cannabis.

"Miss Colley said Daniel had gone to police voluntarily, adding: "The most astonishing feature is that, but for that approach by the defendant, nobody would have known about these offences."

Miss Colley said: "He felt very bad about it and disgusted with himself. He has expressed genuine remorse."

Jailing Daniel for three years, Judge Simon Phillips QC told him: "It is on the strength of your voluntary admissions that this indictment is brought before the court and that is an indication of not only cooperation, but also remorse and contrition."

Judge Phillips said he had read a letter from a psychiatrist who saw Daniel in April 2019 in connection with an anxiety disorder due to cannabis use.

Judge Phillips said: "At the time of the offending you were using alcohol and drugs on a regular basis and to a significant extent and it appears is likely to have brought on an exacerbated your mental health issues."

Judge Phillips said Daniels' name will be the sex offender register indefinitely.

Description

This image shows a 64-year-old man who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl while dressed as a schoolboy.

Michael Wilson squeezed the girls bottom as he waked towards Headland School in Bridlington in January 2019.

He was later caught in an out of bounds area of the school premises.

An image of Wilson wearing a school uniform and a wig was shared among students.

The 64-year-old was arrested on January 9 where police found a number of different school uniforms in a secret room hidden by a bookcase, Hull Crown Court heard.

Officers also found a story written by Wilson titled My Life As A 13-year-old Schoolboy within the same room.

Wilson, of High Street, Bridlington, appeared in court on Friday where he was given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years.

Wearing a wig, a white shirt, a blazer and a Headlands School tie, Wilson was seen by two girls walking towards the school on the morning of January 8 last year.

Prosecuting barrister Richard Thompson said: The defendant approached and without asking anything he squeezed one of the girls bottoms before walking towards the school.

He was seen by a member of staff in an area close to the school building clearly marked as out of bounds.

"The staff member initially thought this was a student but when he approached closer he noticed he was not.

The defendant said he was looking for someone but immediately walked off down the driveway. The member of staff managed to take a picture of the defendant.

Wilson pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and appeared at Hull Crown Court on Friday, March 6 where he was given a suspended sentence.

He must also adhere to a sexual harm prevention order for seven years that prevents him from purchasing school uniforms.

Wilson must also not go within 100m of the perimeter boundaries of any school or have any contact with children under 16 unrelated to him.

Description

A FORMER police employee from York has been jailed for four years for possessing and distributing “depraved” indecent images of children.

Bradley Paul Smith, 36, who worked as a safety camera van operator with North Yorkshire Police, also admitted voyeurism.

Detectives found videos - which Smith had filmed - taken from inside the men’s changing room at a gym, a video of a teenager getting changed inside a bedroom and a child asleep on a bed.

Smith was arrested on February 6 last year and suspended from duty. He has since been sacked.

Detective Sergeant Lee Allenby, of the North Yorkshire Police online abuse & exploitation team, said it was “very concerning” that Smith, while still on police duties and on the same day he was arrested, had uploaded two serious Category A indecent images of children on his personal tablet.

He added: “This showed how deeply he was embroiled in this depraved and secretive world. However, there is no evidence or suggestion that offences were committed using police equipment.”

Smith was arrested after information was supplied police by the National Crime Agency.

North Yorkshire Police forensically examined numerous smart phones, tablets and laptops to secure evidence.

A large collection of indecent images of children, going back to 2011, were recovered including those classified in the most extreme Category A, as well as Category B and C offences.

The investigation team also recovered the videos taken by Smith.

Smith appeared at York Crown Court on February 10 where he pleaded guilty to making more than 3,000 indecent images of children, as well as distributing images, taking an indecent picture of a child and eight counts of voyeurism.

Smith was jailed for four years at York Crown Court yesterday.

He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders’ register.

DS Allenby added: “When the evidence of his offending was presented to him during the investigation, Bradley Smith initially claimed he was only interested in adult pornography and that the indecent images of children were downloaded accidentally.

“However, we were able to prove beyond doubt that he is a serious offender and it is pleasing that he admitted his guilt at court. He is now facing up to the consequences of his sickening actions.

“This case shows that North Yorkshire Police is determined and equipped to secure justice in such a complex investigation. Also that we operate without fear or favour even when the suspect works for the same police force.”

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Smith has fuelled an industry where children suffer the most horrific abuse for the sexual gratification of sickening individuals like him, who can access these images and videos in just a few clicks.

“The NSPCC is calling on tech companies, law enforcement and government to work together to find ways to cut this vile material off at source.”

Description

A pervert who tried to meet up with a parent to abuse his two daughters was caught after it turned out to be an undercover police officer.

William Gerald Lenehan, from Preston, was in secret online contact with the officer for two months and used secure email accounts based in Russia so he couldn't be traced.

The 'determined and premeditated' 65-year-old also installed special software on his mobile phone making it 'difficult or impossible' to check his browsing history and also had access to the 'dark web'.

Preston Crown Court heard how police officers in Kent launched an investigation in early 2017 to 'identify and investigate individuals arranging to meet and facilitate sex offences with children'.

Prosecutor Mercedes Jabbari said Lenehan made contact with the undercover officer in May 2017 and used the email address name 'Exciting Times'.

Lenehan had email accounts with Russian-based Yandex and Protonmail and Ms Jabbari said they are 'known not to share information with local enforcement agencies'.

She told the court: "The defendant had earlier informed the undercover officer that he changes his email addresses frequently for security purposes and in fact advised the undercover officer to do the same."

Four days after making contact with the officer Lenehan told him to first send a picture of a sex act involving his daughter and then they could go on to "trade some heavy stuff".

Lenehan suggested they set up a group in a chat room application and the defendant used the name 'Gary'.

Ms Jabbari said between May and July 2017 Lenehan engaged in "explicit conversations concerning the abuse of children" with the officer.

She told the court: "The defendant was not only telling the undercover officer to perform indecent acts with his children but also expressing a description of what acts he too would wish to perform.

"He said he enjoyed their 'purvy chats' and even expressed disappointment at the situation saying 'pity this is all illegal'.

"He also tried to arrange a meeting with the undercover officer so they both could abuse the officers supposed young daughters who were three and six years of age."

Lenehan sent the officer a number of 'first generation' custom made images of children, including one of an eight-year-old girl holding a placard with the date and the defendant's Kik Messenger username.

Ms Jabbari told the court that it 'indicated the defendant had obtained them from a source not far removed from the original abuser'.

The images were later traced to a man in Torquay who was arrested and convicted, the court heard.

Officers also used Lenehan's internet provider address from Kik Messenger to trace him to an address on Devonshire Place in Preston.

The defendant was away working in France but was arrested at Manchester Airport the next day.

A mobile phone was seized containing 61 indecent images and videos of children, including one category A - the most serious - three category B and 57 category C.

Ms Jabbari said the victims were aged between five and 10 and one of the abuse videos lasted more than five minutes.

Attempts had also been made to delete the images on the phone which had been in the defendant's possession since 2012.

The prosecutor said: "The phone was found to have multiple means of secure communications and means of access to the internet making it difficult or impossible for such communications or browsing to be intercepted or detected.

"There were programmes for the effective permanent deletion of images and software to hide [Virtual Private Network] addresses making it difficult to trace the location of the user.

"There was also software to enable the user to access content on the dark web."

'Period of insanity'

Lenehan pleaded guilty to encouraging a man to take and send him indecent images of children, distributing indecent images and possessing indecent images.

Defence barrister Shirlie Duckworth said: "This was for him a period of insanity where he had no insight into the harmful effects of his behaviour.

"If the court is inclined to look at the longer term protection of the public and rehabilitation of this defendant then supervision in the community would allow rehabilitation and longer term protection."

Description

A sexual predator who subjected three young girls to years of abject suffering has been jailed for 30 years after a jury found him guilty of multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.

Graham Howard, 47, claimed the girls were lying but the overwhelming evidence stacked against him led to a jury returning unanimous guilty verdicts on all 18 charges he had denied.
 
They included multiple rapes and indecent assaults on the victims – one of whom was just six years old when the abuse began, York Crown Court heard.

Over a period of about 10 years, the girls were subjected to horrific sexual assaults at properties in Scarborough, York and Selby.

The evidence presented to the court was so horrific that one juror was reduced to tears.

Howard - formerly of Scarborough but now living in Knottingley, West Yorkshire - denied all charges including 11 counts of rape, as well as gross indecency with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and indecent assault.

The victims - none of whom can be named for legal reasons - were systematically abused between the late 1990s and about 2009.

Prosecutor Mike Greenhalgh said that Howard, who at the time worked at the Rowntree factory in York, offered the victims treats such as chocolate, sweets and magazines if they kept quiet about his sickening crimes.

One victim said: “You couldn’t tell anybody because he always told you not to. He said he would just deny (the abuse).”

She said Howard forced her to carry out sex acts on him, adding: “I just froze. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

She didn’t tell anyone initially because she was “in denial, just scared, having (had) it drilled into my head that I couldn’t tell anyone”.

The girl, who began self-harming by her early teens, added: “He’d buy you things: sweets, magazines; give you money. Most of the time it was after… sex. You’d get treats for that.”

One of the victims said Howard “really creeped me out” and would often whistle at her. During one attack she was screaming with fear.

Each of the girls was raped multiple times and made to perform degrading sexual acts on Howard.

One of them said she had turned to drink and drugs in her early teens because she was struggling to cope following years of abuse.

“I had no confidence and became very timid,” she added. “When (Howard) was hurting me and sexually abusing me, I used to be so hurt and confused. I was too scared to tell anyone what was happening to me. It wasn’t until I got older that I realised that what he was doing to me was wrong.”

One by one, the girls came forward to police in about 2017 but even though Howard was finally brought to justice, they said their lives had been ruined.

One of the victims said she had suffered from depression and anxiety and still had nightmares about her childhood, as well as flashbacks to the abuse.

The girl said Howard had “destroyed my life” and even though she had managed to turn it around with the help of counselling, it was “going to take a long time to recover from what he did to me”.

Another victim said: “I was a small child, young and defenceless. At a young age I started to self-harm because I felt it was the only way to release the pain. I had anxiety and depression to the point where I couldn’t sleep at night. As an adult I still get nightmares about what happened.”

At the adjourned sentence hearing on Friday, judge Sean Morris labelled Howard a “vile” sexual “deviant” who had used the girls as his “sexual play-things”.

“You are a very dangerous man to young children and women,” he added.

He said that Howard - who had pleaded guilty to three separate charges related to the abuse of the same children before the trial - had put the girls through “mental torture” and had shown no remorse.

Howard, of Croft Avenue, Knottingley, showed no emotion as the judge handed down the 30-year sentence.

He was told he must serve at least two-thirds of the 25-year custodial element of the sentence, with an extended five-year period on prison licence. It means his very earliest release date will be in 16 years’ time, when he will be 63.

He was also placed on the sex-offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order which bans him having any unsupervised contact with under-age children.

Detective Constable Rosie Rogers, of Scarborough CID, said after the hearing: “This is one of the worst cases of child abuse I have ever dealt with. No child should have to go through the terror and pain that they suffered at (Howard’s) hands.”

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Security guard, 53, who worked for One Direction, Stacey Solomon and Tulisa is jailed for seven years for pretending to be a taxi driver and sexually assaulting drunken clubber, 24 The 24-year-old victim told York Crown Court she believed her drink had been spiked during a night out in the city centre with friends. She said she felt mangy and totally out of it as she left Vudu. Dominic Spiteri, 53, Parliament Street, Norton, came up to her, said he was a taxi driver and offered to take her home on mates rates. Once they were alone in his vehicle, he started molesting her and took her to a lonely layby in the countryside, where he sexually assaulted her so hard, she was in pain for days afterwards. She said she couldnt stop him because of the state she was in but kept saying no. Spiteri, who worked as a doorman on city centre clubs, denied claiming to be a taxi driver or spiking her drink. He claimed from the witness box that she had introduced him to her friends inside Vudu. In the car, she had flirted with him and initiated sexual contact. He denied witness statements that the victim had vomited when they reached the hotel where her friends were staying. The jury convicted Spiteri, of sexual assault after four hours in retirement. The victim was particularly vulnerable due to her personal circumstances, Judge Simon Batiste told Spiteri. She was alone in a taxi with you, late at night where she was obviously clearly incapable due to her intoxicated state.You took advantage of that. You have not shown one shred of remorse for your behaviour. This was a horrible attack. He jailed Spiteri for seven years, made a lifelong sexual harm prevention order forbidding him to have a woman alone with him in a car or contacting the victim in any way and put him on the sex offenders register for life. The victim cried as the jury returned their verdict at the end of a four-day trial. The judge said she had suffered considerable psychological harm . In a personal statement she said she felt violated, now couldnt trust men and didnt like to be alone with any man. Keith Allen, for Spiteri, said he was now suffering from depression and under the care of a psychiatrist. The victim told the jury she had been reluctant to go to the police initially because she had had a bad experience when she had been a complainant in a different case. The jury heard that the original police officer in charge of the Spiteri case had been taken off it. The victim said the officer had not carried out basic investigations or arranged for her to give her evidence via video link, as is standard in sex cases. The jury heard a second officer took over the case and gathered the evidence against Spiteri.

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A MAN arrested in an anti-paedophile police sting at a York supermarket has been jailed for three years.

Christopher George Walton, 33, was sitting in a Berlingo van whose rear seats had been removed and had “a large supply of condoms” and other items that could be used in sexual activities, said Paul Newcombe, prosecuting.

He was waiting to meet a schoolboy nearly 13-year-old called “Noah” whom he had told via social media he would meet him at a Lidl supermarket car park, take for a drive and “see what happens”.

But in reality “Noah” didn’t exist. His profile on Grindr social media had been created as part of a police operation and 15 minutes before he was due to arrive at 4pm on January 14, police pounced.

“The defendant was shaking as he was arrested and said “I knew it”,” said Mr Newcombe.

Walton, of Ingleborough Avenue, Tang Hall, pleaded guilty to two offences of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity and one of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming.

He was jailed for three years, put on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order curbing his contact with boys under 16 and use of the internet and electronic devices.

Mr Newcombe said “Noah” had told Walton at the start of their exchanges in early January he was “nearly 13” and that he was at school. Walton had been the first to turn their exchanges to sexual content, and had asked him more than once to send him a sexual picture of himself. “Noah” had not done so.

For Walton, Keith Allen said as part of their Grindr exchanges, the 33-year-old had told “Noah” he was too “skint” to buy him a McDonalds and they wouldn’t be able to drive far because he didn’t have much fuel.

On two occasions, he had also not contacted “Noah” for days at a time and “Noah” had resumed the contact

At the time of the offences, Walton had been suffering from depression, but not on medication.

As soon as he had been released following his arrest, he had gone to his GP and got anti-depressants.

Mr Allen said police must have submitted a profile with a false date of birth because Grindr was restricted to adults.