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A YOUTH worker caught swapping child abuse images with other perverts online and even encouraging one to rape a baby in disturbing Skype conversations today walked free from court after avoiding a jail term.

Matthew Lynch told cops "I've never done anything - I work with children" when they explained why his home was being raided in November last year.

But an investigation into the contents of his smartphone and laptop unmasked horrifying conversations with online perverts.

In one conversation another depraved paedophile told Lynch he could have watched him with a "zero" - a codeword for a young child he was abusing - if he had been online.

Lynch asked the man if he had abused the child to which he replied "I would have been tempted if you would have been watching."

Fiscal depute Saima Rasheed told Dundee Sheriff Court: "The accused then wrote 'looks tasty' - and asked how the man had abused the child.

"His computers were forensically examined and six indecent images were recovered from Skype.

"They depict boys aged between three and six.

"Skype chat conversation logs were also found.

"They discuss sexual abuse of a child by another male.

"There were also chat logs on his iPhone."

Lynch was employed as an assistant youth worker with the Dundee Carers Centre when his sick crime was uncovered.

He is listed on their website as having worked as part of their young carers project.

It is understood he left the charity within days of the police raid last November.

The organisation provides support, advocacy and training for those who provide unpaid care for family or friends - as well as organising short breaks for carers and those they care for.

Lynch, 24, of Calder Grove, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of downloading child abuse images between March 17 and November 17 last year and distributing them on March 23 last year at an address in Dundee's Portpatrick Terrace.

Defence solicitor Billy Rennie said: "He lived an isolated lifestyle and developed somewhat secretive relationships.

"Thats how this ultimately led to the offences in questions.

"In these discussions online he was to some extent let into a discussion about these images.

"This was with an individual he'd never met and whose name he didn't even know.

"They were fairly graphic and horrific images."

Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: "These are serious offences but in the circumstances I think I can deal with it by a community payback order."

He imposed a community payback order with 200 hours unpaid work, two-and-a-half years supervision, an order to take part in a sex offenders rehabilitation programme and conduct requirements around his contact with children and internet use.

Lynch will also be on the sex offenders register for 30 months.

A spokesman for NSPCC Scotland said: "These were extremely worrying offences that involved images of children being abused.

"These are real children and behind every single one of these pictures is a young victim who will need considerable support to recover from the crimes inflicted on them.

"Possessing and distributing indecent images of children is an appalling crime. It's vital that police continue to investigate those responsible and bring them to court and people on the sex offenders' register for crimes of this nature must be strictly monitored."

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A builder has been sentenced to a total of eight years imprisonment after being convicted of attempting to meet a 12-year old girl for sex.

Danny Watson, 37, a builder, of Alderbrook Close, Crowborough, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Friday having been found guilty that day following a trial of arranging to meet a child aged under 16 following grooming, two counts of possession of cannabis and cocaine, and possession with intent to supply cannabis.

In August last year Watson engaged in indecent on-line contact with someone he believed to be a 12-year old girl, and eventually arranged to meet her in a Brighton street.

However the person he was in contact with was in fact an adult man, who was filming the meeting. He also informed the police, who arrived and arrested Watson.

Watson was already serving a suspended sentence, having been convicted in October the previous year to possession of indecent images of children at his address.

He had been sentenced to three months imprisonment suspended for 12 months, and was also a registered sex offender for seven years.

He is now a registered sex offender for life and was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to last until further court order, severely restricting his access to children and computers until further court order.

He was also banned for life from any work with children and young people.

Detective Constable Steve Smith said; "Watson was already a convicted sex offender less than a year previously, but clearly decided to take a chance at further offending.

"The sentence shows that the courts will take repeat offending of this type very seriously."

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

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

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

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

'Should have known better'

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

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

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

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

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

'Get the story straight'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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A former Cumbria Police worker has been jailed for possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

David Robinson, 46, used his computer to hunt out images and videos of child sex abuse, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

His conversations with other paedophiles were of the "most sickening nature", Judge Peter Hughes QC said.

Robinson, of Waldegrave Road, Carlisle, was jailed for six years after admitting 20 counts of possession and distribution of indecent images.

The court heard how Robinson had offered to buy a child online in order to abuse them as well as decorating a room in his house for a child before applying to become a foster carer for young boys.

The hearing was also told a number of the images were of children as young as five and were of the most serious "Category A" type.

Judge Hughes said: "Robinson had presented one face to the outside world, another deeply unattractive one online."

Robinson was employed as a front counter worker at Cumbria Police when he was arrested last October. He was immediately suspended and left the force in January.

Det Insp Doug Marshall said: "This prosecution reflects the serious nature of the images which Mr Robinson was viewing and distributing.

"Images of this nature have been created via the suffering and abuse of children and they are criminal offences."

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register and given a sexual offences prevention order for life.

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A PEADOPHILE who met up with an underage girl at Machynlleth train station has been jailed for nine and a half years.

Mark Owen, 49, wept as he was told by a judge on Wednesday that he was a high risk to any girl aged under 16.

Owen met the girl at the towns railway station and kissed and cuddled her.

But Swansea Crown Court heard there was no doubt his plans involved having sexual intercourse with her and even making her pregnant.

Owen, from Caerphilly, was under licence from prison and the subject of a restraining order at the time for previous sexual offences against underage girls.

But, said Judge Peter Heywood, that did not stop him from making contact with the girl over the internet.

Her mother became annoyed to find she had exceeded her mobile telephone messages allowance for the second month running.

She examined the phone and was horrified and alarmed to discover messages her daughter and Owen had swapped.

She sent Owen a message of her own and telephoned him to tell him she would contact the police.

Judge Heywood said Owen had shared more than 1,400 messages or conversations with the girl, including 161 on 26 September 2015, the day he travelled to Machynlleth to meet her.

They included messages, from him to her, reading, I can imagine what it will be like on Saturday. Straight to the woods and well do it in the woods.

We would be at it all night. How many babies would you want, honey?

Sexual intercourse did not take place that day, added Judge Heywood, but it was clear that in the days following, Owen made more arrangements to meet up.

After his arrest he denied contacting the girl at all.

But CCTV cameras had filmed him in Machynlleth even though he had pulled up a hood and put on sunglasses.

Judge Heywood said that even while in jail on remand Owen wrote to the girl asking her to send him photographs of her.

When police spoke to him about that he again denied responsibility, but a handwriting expert could prove he had written the letter.

Owen admitted sexual activity with a girl aged under 16, breaching the terms of his licence from prison and a sexual harm prevention order.

The court heard that in 2006 Owen had been made the subject of a community order for sexual activity with three girls aged under 13.

In 2009 he was jailed for five years for sexual activity with a girl aged under 16 and breaching the terms of the previous sentence, with an extended licence period of three years.

Judge Heywood said Owen was clearly a dangerous offender.

Because of the threats he had made against the Machynlleth girl she had become too afraid to leave her home even though she had been told he was in prison.

You are highly predatory and have a deviant interest in young girls, he added.

Owen was jailed for nine and a half years and told he could not even apply for parole until he had served six years and four months.

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Michael Hudson, 55, dressed the youngsters up in sexy clothing and got them to pose for indecent photos at his home in Kirkham, a court heart.

One of the girls said she felt like Madonna when Hudson groomed her and took pictures of her posing and dancing for the camera.

The girls - now in their 30s and 40s - described Hudson as a fun guy who would take them out on day trips and treat them to sweets and pocket money.

But Preston Crown Court heard between 1985 and 1997, Hudson preyed on the little girls so he could sexually abuse them.

He plied them with booze and amyl nitrate, or poppers, to relax them and enable sexual activity.

They each also described being given a pill, which he told them was like Ecstasy and would relax them.

The father-of-two pleaded guilty to indecent assault, administering a drug to enable sexual intercourse, making indecent images and rape.

The court heard the predatory sex beast manipulated situations where he could indecently assault the girls, showing them pornography to normalise sexualise activity.

He even assaulted one of the girls in a lift on a trip to the crisp factory where he worked, while she was visiting with a group of children, the court heard.

Mr Justice Fraser, sentencing, said: Such a trip should have been something a child that age could look forward to and enjoy.

As it is you used it as a further opportunity to abuse her.

Their victim impact statements make harrowing reading. You have caused both these ladies significant harm.

Hudsons first victim - who was a teenager when she was abused by Hudson in the 1980s - said she had lost everything as a result of what had happened to her.

She said: It feels like my life has never begun and at the same time it feels like it is over.

His other victim - who was aged between eight and 11 years old when she was assaulted and raped by Hudson, said she has struggled to form adult relationships and is overprotective of her own children as a result of the abuse she endured.

Mr Justice Fraser said: You engineered situations where you could take advantage of them being in your company to abuse them.

You were a grown adult male when you committed these offences.

The judge gave Hudson, of Queens Crescent, Kirkham, credit for his guilty plea and put him on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

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A VICTIM who was targeted by a 'disgusting vile paedophile' over a 10-year period has spoken out after he was jailed for 14 years.

The 31 year old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was raped by mobile disco entertainer Graham Horrix - also known as DJ Elvis - between the ages of four and 14.

Horrix, 59, who maintains his innocence, first attacked the young girl in a toilet block near his seaside caravan before raping her on a mattress in the back of the vehicle.

Prosecutor Corinne Bramwell said: "When she was alone in the van Horrix used that opportunity to sexually abuse her and she describes wanting to scream, but being too frightened to do so."

On another occasion, he forced the victim to give him oral sex and raped her for the second time in his bathroom.

Speaking after Horrix was sentenced, the victim said: "I've finally got the news Ive waited so long to hear. The disgusting, vile paedophile Graham Horrix is now in prison.

"I have spent so much of my life feeling ashamed of what happened, made worse by it being constantly dismissed and being told to forget about it.

"He will no longer have any control over me."

During the trial the court heard that Horrix, of Priestwood Avenue, had a collection of porn and condoms in his touring van and has previous convictions for sexually abusing other young girls.

Jailing Horrix at Kingston Crown Court, recorder Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC told Horrix, said: "They are grave offences. You were an adult yet committed a range of sexual offences against a child, who was young and extremely vulnerable.

"She was a child who had her innocence stripped from her by your brutal actions and she has suffered severe psychological harm."

Horrix, who shook his head in defiance during the hearing, says his partner has split with him and destroyed all his property, leaving him with nothing.

Horrix was convicted of two counts of raping the girl and was also convicted of three counts of indecently assaulting the girl in Clapham.

Recorder Bennett-Jenkins ordered Horrix to remain on licence for an extra twelve months when he is finally released and made an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and Restraining Order.

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A paedophile caught with a vile collection of 12,587 images of child abuse was jailed for 15 months.

Daniel Gunson, 45, of Hollybank, Moore, was locked up on Friday at Chester Crown Court having previously pleaded not guilty to six offences of possessing and making indecent images, possessing prohibited images and having extreme pornography involving animals.

‘Deviant’ Gunson was caught after police seized digital devices including a laptop, an external hard drive and a Samsung phone.

Officers trawling the files uncovered a hoard of imagery of sexual abuse of children from babies to older teens.

Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, said the pictures and videos covered the range of seriousness from the worst in Category A through to Category C.

Judge Patrick Thompson detailed the imagery further, stressing that the public ‘should know the sort of material people are viewing’.

He went onto describe examples of photographs and videos, including clips of infants in visible pain and distress undergoing sexual abuse in ordeals lasting nearly two hours.

Police confirmed more than 12,500 child abuse images from 30,000 images discovered, with a further 138,524 files that were not examined.

There were 2,951 items in Category A, 3,244 in Category B and 6,392 in Category C.

In addition, his search history was littered with terms and recurrent themes relating to still and moving images of offences against children.

Gunson was arrested in 2015 but claimed innocence via a prepared statement after a series of no comment interviews.

The matter was due to go to trial this September but the defendant change his plea in April.

The court heard that a previous partner of Gunson had broken up with him in 1996 after discovering him looking at indecent images, but he claimed he had no idea how they ended up on his computer.

Gunson, in a grey suit, purple shirt and thick black-rimmed glasses, stood blank-faced for the duration of the hearing.

Elderly family members covered their mouths as His Honour Patrick Thompson listed the offences and told Gunson the only place he could go was prison.

Simon Parry, defending, said his client had no previous convictions and had received an indication he would be given a 20%-25% discount for his guilty please from another judge.

He petitioned Judge Thompson for a suspended sentence to enable Gunson so that he could undergo a sexual offenders treatment programme, which would not be available to him in prison.

He added that a probation report had assessed the defendant as being of ‘low risk’ of reconviction, a claim rubbished as ‘utterly astonishing’ by the judge.

Judge Thompson imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order on Gunson and ordered that he be placed on the sex offenders’ register, also for 10 years.

Sentencing him, he said: “You entered a defence statement claiming you knew nothing of this material that it somehow appeared on your computer.

“You said you had obtained your computer from someone else and it was their responsibility.

“That wasn’t the case at all.

“You were the person who had downloaded it and you were the person with a deviant interest in material of this kind, material of children being raped, from babies to teenage children.

“You seem to have an interest in all of that.”

He added: “If it wasn’t for people like you with this deviant interest, these children would not be getting raped so I’m afraid you bear responsibility.”

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A former Church of England priest has been found guilty of torturing and sexually abusing two schoolboys in the 1980s and 90s.

Jonathan Graves, 60, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, restrained the children, who were aged between 12 and 14, using belts and straps, and then beat them.

At the time, he was the vicar at St Luke's Church in Stone Cross.

He was convicted at Hove Crown Court of 12 offences between 1987 and 1992 and will be sentenced on Monday.

Graves, of Jervis Avenue, was cleared of five similar charges, including one offence of indecent assault on a 50-year-old woman in 2002, following a nine-day trial.

The court heard how he groomed the boys, plied them with alcohol and tricked them into playing sadistic forfeit games.

Graves was first arrested by police in 2005 following a single complaint.

He was temporarily suspended from working in Sussex churches three years later.

Det Insp Jon Gross, of the Sussex Police Public Protection Command, said the past had "caught up" with Graves.

"The evidence in this case has revealed how he used his position to select his victims and befriend them before callously abusing them for his own sexual gratification.

"His crimes have had a lasting impact upon those he abused.

"The hurt caused by the sexual abuse itself has undoubtedly been compounded by the psychological scars of the abuser being a trusted and influential figure in each of the victims' lives."

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A disc jockey who subjected a man and woman with Down's syndrome to sex attacks in Moray has been jailed for five years.

Scott Sinclair, 41, who lived in Elgin at the time, was convicted by a jury.

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A "depraved sexual predator" who subjected a woman to a "terrifying rape" has been jailed, police said.

Samaun Shah, of Hornby Road, Stretford dragged her into a car park in Trafford at about 03:15 BST on 4 April and raped her, said Greater Manchester Police.

Det Con Paul Walls said Shah targeted his victim, who was in her 40s, after she asked him for a cigarette while walking to Tesco on Chester Road.

Shah, 44, was sentenced to eight years after his trial at Bolton Crown Court.

After giving her a cigarette, police said Shah insisted that she walk with him to Old Trafford Metrolink station.

He then dragged her into a deserted car park and assaulted her.

Shah denied any involvement when he was arrested, claiming he had been in bed at the time.

He carried on denying the offence even when he was shown CCTV footage of him and the woman walking together.

'Sexual predator'

Det Con Walls said a dangerous man had been taken off the streets.

He added: "Samaun Shah is a depraved sexual predator who preyed on a vulnerable woman who had merely asked him if she could have a cigarette.

"He took her to a spot where he thought nobody would see him and subjected her to a terrifying rape, the memory of which will stay with her for the rest of her life."

He said Shah's repeated denials, even when faced with CCTV evidence, highlighted "the arrogance of a man who thought he could get away with his despicable crime".

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Music tutor David Brown was jailed for 11 years and one month, with an extended licence period of three years, for a string of sex offences against boys as young as seven at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday.

The 40-year-old was described as a “vile excuse for a man” by a victim’s mother and assessed as presenting a significant risk of causing serious harm by further offending.

Brown, formerly of Duke Street, Hintlesham, near Ipswich, had already admitted 20 offences against nine boys, including six counts of sexually assaulting three boys under 13, four of recording the abuse, six of voyeurism, three of making indecent photographs and one of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

Judge David Pugh said Brown, more recently of Elthorne Park, Clacton-on-sea, “acted as a predator” by deliberately grooming boys in order to abuse them for sexual gratification.

Prosecutor Claire Matthews had described how the scale of offending was uncovered after one of the boys confided in his mother.

When arrested in January 2019, Brown tried to accuse her of fabricating the allegations in retaliation for an unrequited “obsession”.

Police uncovered 1,831 indecent images and movies of children on Brown’s laptop, including a video and images of him sexually abusing three boys and footage from secret cameras installed in toilets used by other boys.

Each victim’s image was cropped by investigators and had to be presented to their parents for identification.

Forensic analysis also recovered online chatroom messages sent by Brown under the guise of a 14-year-old girl, encouraging young boys to send indecent images and engage in sexual activity.

The court heard statements from parents of the boys Brown abused, expressing their anger, shock and disgust, and describing the various nightmares, flashbacks and trauma still suffered by his young victims.

One described Brown as a “dangerous and vile excuse of man, who saw prime pickings in the innocence of children”.

Joanne Eley, mitigating, said Brown had entered guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity at crown court last month following the service of a wealth of evidence.

She added: “The offences were committed at a time when – as the defendant states – he was at a loss to explain why he did what he did.”

Miss Eley said Brown had since spoken frankly to the probation service and did not deny being sexually attracted to children.

She said Brown had sent a letter to Judge Pugh, expressing sorrow and remorse, and “wishing he could turn back the clock to right his wrongs”.

Brown will have to go before the parole board before being considered for release from jail, and once free, must sign the sex offenders’ register and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.

Judge Pugh publicly recognised the work of Detective Constable Elizabeth Smy by recommending her for a chief constable’s commendation for her work on a complex and sensitive case.

After the sentencing, Det Con Liz Smy thanked officers and the safeguarding team for their dedication and professionalism, and paid tribute to the victims’ families for their courage in supporting the investigation.

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A former youth club director who repeatedly raped a teenage girl during a "campaign of sexual abuse" has been jailed for 20 years.

Christopher Rixon, from Blackpool, was convicted of eight counts of rape and six counts of sexual assault.

Rixon, 42, denied the offences, claiming he began a relationship with the victim when she was 16 and it was consensual.

Lancashire Police said it was "lies" and he was a "dangerous predator".

'No remorse'

The offences took place at Monty's Youth Club in the town in 2010.

Rixon, of Holmfield Road, was also found guilty of two counts of inciting a girl aged between 13-15 to engage in sexual activity after a trial at Preston Crown Court.

Simon Morris, of Lancashire Police, said: "I am glad the jury saw through Christopher Rixon's lies, and saw him for the dangerous sexual predator he is.

"I can't overstate the impact that his actions had on the victim, and she must be commended for showing immense bravery in reporting Rixon to us.

"He has shown no remorse by denying the offences, forcing her to go through the ordeal of a trial."

He added: "I am pleased he is now behind bars where he belongs."

Rixon was cleared of two counts of rape of a girl over 16 and two counts of sexual touching of a child relating to a separate girl.

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A 29-year-old man was jailed for three years and four months for having sex with a girl of 14.

The teenager thought Barry Masters was “a really nice man” and said he made her laugh by doing stupid things on the trampoline, Bradford Crown Court heard.

But Masters, of Lawkholme Lane, Keighley, abused the child’s trust by having sex with her at his flat after he had been drinking, prosecutor Andrew Kershaw said.

The court heard yesterday that the girl’s parents were deeply damaged by what Masters had done to their daughter.

Mr Kershaw said the teenager’s mother challenged Masters about the nature of their friendship after he was seen hugging her.

Masters said he was comforting the girl because she was in trouble at school.

The teenager visited him at his flat and when her mother called him “a paedophile” he admitted he had had sex with her on one occasion.

Sophie Drake, Masters’ barrister, said: “It was a one-off, much-regretted incident.”

He had lost contact with his two daughters because of what he had done and he hated himself, the court was told.

Masters had a drink problem and he had been seeking professional help to cut down his alcohol intake, it was said.

He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had no previous convictions for sexual offences.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning Masters from contacting the girl or having any unsupervised contact with girls under 16 for an indefinite period.

He must sign on the sex offenders’ register, notifying the police about where he is living.

Judge Durham Hall said Masters had robbed the girl of her childhood and abused the trust she had placed in him.

Her parents had been caused very real suffering by his actions.

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HE posted vile pictures of young girls being abused on the Internet that were beamed around the world.

Richard Couzens thought his sickening behaviour would go undetected after uploading the images to a Russian website via his mobile phone.

Now the 30-year-old from Southampton has been brought to justice - with the help of eagle eyed police using clever technology on the other side of the world.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Australian police officers discovered the sordid images on a Russian website and set about finding out who was responsible for them.

Using the latest techniques to solve cyber crime they began tracking the images - leading them straight to the door of Couzens, from Chettle Road, Southampton.

The information was passed on to detectives from Hampshire police who arrested Couzens and took him in for questioning.

Prosecutor Christopher Wing told the city crown court how he confessed to police that he had taken pictures of a youngster who he also sexually abused. He posted them on the Internet along with others of children aged between three and eleven - blaming his actions on his addiction for images of young girls.

Couzens, 30, admitted 20 charges of taking and making indecent images, distributing them and assault by penetration.

He was jailed for 10 years with a five year extended licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders register and made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, both for life.

Jailing him, Judge Derwin Hope told Couzens: “You committed a serious breach of trust.

“You took pictures of this girl and then distributed them over the web for other like minded people.

“This was particularly shocking and illustrates the deep seated nature of your perversion that has manifested for more than five years.”

The judge told Couzens he represented a significant risk to the public, especially to young girls, and extended his licence because he considered him dangerous.

In mitigation, Susan Ridge told the court how Couzens had struggled with his addiction and though he wanted help, he felt unable to do it.

“He is deeply remorseful and greatly distressed at what he has done. He is ashamed of what he has done and knows he will he will go away for a long time and the impact it will have on his family.”

Couzens, who she added was motivated to address his offending in prison, was of previous good character.