Latest Offenders

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A man will now spend 4.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of a teenage girl.

Andrii Melnyk, of Harvard Road, Chiswick, and born on 15/12/1993, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court today (17 January) for sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by touching. He will also be on the sexual offenders register for life.

The assault took place on 2 April at around 6am on Short Lane in Staines and involved Melnyk following the victim after they got off the same bus, grabbing her by the arm and attempting to pull her trousers down. The victim then fell over and Melynk fell on top of her, after which he sexually assaulted her.

The victim, who was only 18-years-old at the time, managed to fight him off and shout for help, before seeking assistance from a nearby taxi driver who rang the police. Melynk then fled the scene.

Melynk was identified as the perpetrator after officers trawled through the CCTV on the bus and matched him to the suspect description. By cross-referencing the oyster card used on the bus, Melynk was successfully identified as the user.

Upon searching his home address, officers found clothing matching the ones in the CCTV, as well as a pair of distinctive jeans with mud stains on the knees. He was subsequently picked out as the perpetrator in an ID parade by the victim, before being charged with the offences and remanded in custody.

Investigating Officer DC Katherine Peters, said; “This was a complex investigation that involved many different lines of enquiries including forensics, intel, witness testimonies and CCTV.

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A man has been jailed after raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Ellesmere Port.

Max Dufley, 34, of Eaton Road, West Kirby, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday 16 January where he was sentenced to six years.

He was previously found guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration.

The investigation began on 18 June 2021, after a woman contacted police to report she had been raped by Dufley in May 2021. During the incident, she had awoken to find Dufley sexually assaulting her, before raping her.

After a thorough investigation, Dufley was subsequently charged with the offences in August 2022.

He originally denied the charges but was found guilty on Thursday 5 October following a four-day trial.

On top of his prison sentence, Dufley is subject to a restraining order, sexual harm prevention order, and must sign the sex offender register.

Description

A DISGUSTING sex offender has been jailed after exchanging sexual messages with a girl he believed to be 12.

Louis Smith, 37, was caught out by a group of online paedophile hunters exchanging messages of a sexual nature with a ’12-year-old-girl’ he met online.

Smith appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced for one count of ‘intentionally causing a child to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity’ and another of ‘attempting to engage in sexual communicate with a child by sending indecent images of himself’.

Prosecuting, Henry Riding told the court how the 37-year-old had begun talking to ‘Grace’ in late 2022 and said the conversation had initially not been sexual. In this initial chat, he was told the girl he was talking to was 12.

The man had been serving a suspended sentence when he first contacted the fake account,

Smith, of Goldcliff Close, Callands, began talking to ‘Grace’ again eight months later in August 2023 – talking to the hunters’ decoy account for just over a week.

In this week, he sent various sexually explicit messages to her, including pictures of himself, and made further sexual requests of ‘Grace’, asking her to send him photos or videos.  

He was then confronted and apprehended by the paedophile hunting group, and later arrested.

Defending Smith, Emily Calman told the court how the Goldcliff Close resident had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Ms Calman also went on to stress, ‘He has never done anything like this before’ but admitted ‘this was a nasty offence’.

She also added that, whilst he did not deny the offence, he had been drinking and taking ‘substances’ heavily following a death in the family. This has, according to Ms Calman, been resolved.

Judge Trevor Jones, presiding over the case, said that while Smith had pleaded guilty, he was ‘still minimising his culpability’ according to a pre-sentence report.

He went on to state that the report had assigned a medium risk of reoffending to the 37-year-old man.

Judge Jones gave out a sentence of two years for the most serious offence, reduced to 14 months due to the guilty plea and the fact it was ‘only an attempt’. Smith also received 10 months for the second offence, to be served concurrently.

He will serve an immediate custodial sentence and will be placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Description

Levi Caddy, aged 33, groomed and abused two girls. He admitted a total of eight charges which included sexual activity with a child, inciting a child into sexual acts, and possession of indecent images of children.

Caddy was sentenced to by a judge at Plymouth Crown Court to nine years in prison on Friday 12 January.

He will also be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and be the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Caddy was arrested in June 2022 as part of an investigation by Devon & Cornwall Police’s Public Protection Unit.

His digital devices were seized and forensically examined as part of the enquiries. They were found to contain hundreds of indecent images and videos including the most severe ‘Category A’ content.

Detective Constable Tracey Swift said: “I welcome the conviction of Levi Caddy for the heinous crimes that were committee by him against children.

“He actively pursued a course of conduct where he groomed, sexually assaulted, and incited sexual acts which he committed against two victims.

“I would like to pay tribute to the victims for their tremendous bravery and strength throughout the investigation, and their willingness to make Mr Caddy answer for the crimes that he committed against them.

Description

A man who threatened to share intimate images of young women he met through social media has been jailed for a year.

Scott Smith, 34, messaged three women on Snapchat and struck up conversations before he convinced them to send naked photos to him.

But Smith demanded his victims, who were aged between 15 and 20, send more photos or he would share pictures he already had online.

One victim was left so distressed by his conduct she dropped out of her academic studies.

His offending came to light after police raided his home in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, as part of a separate investigation that discovered a sickening stash of 37 images and 26 videos of children being abused.

Evidence uncovered during the raid showed he had been communicating with the women and threatening them.

Smith appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted possessing indecent images of children and a breach of the peace between June 2019 and January 2022.

He was blasted by Sheriff John Hamilton KC for his 'manipulative' and 'exploitative' behaviour. The sheriff jailed the first offender and placed him on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and also banned him from contacting his victims for 10 years.

Depute fiscal Scott O'Connor told the court how Smith was caught sending messages to the three women.

He said: "It became apparent he had been communicating with females on Snapchat and the investigation uncovered he had been communicating and requesting images of a sexual nature.

"The complainers thereafter sent images of themselves to the accused, he received the said images and they then received a message stating that he had their nude pictures and had their contacts and social media pages.

"If they failed to send further images of themselves of a sexual nature, he would post them to their contacts and onto their social media profiles.

"On receipt of that message the complainers thereafter contacted the police and they were blocked by the accused and there was no further contact.

"During the investigation the three complainers were identified and it was discovered that one was aged 15 at the time."

Ian Scott, defending, said: "He had a good track record up until this and his concern is that the custodial threshold has been reached but I have done my best to assure him that alternatives do exist and the court has to consider them."

Sheriff Hamilton said: "You were engaging with three separate females on social media and persuaded them, I don't know how, to send images of themselves of a sexual and compromising nature.

"You then effectively blackmailed them by threatening to release them to friends, family and the public at large. Your position is that you pled guilty because your lawyer told you to do so and you have accepted no responsibility whatsoever.

"I accept everything in your life seemed to be going well before but this exploitative and manipulative behaviour cannot be left unmarked."

Description

A registered sex offender who breached a court order by communicating with a girl and deleting his internet history has been jailed.

Alan Stokes, 42, was visited by officers at his home in Willonholt, Ravensthorpe, Peterborough, on 6 September last year and during the routine visit, they checked his mobile phone after he told them he had been speaking to a female on Whatsapp.

The phone was seized and the female discovered to be a child.

Stokes had sent messages to the girl, who had confirmed she was a child, between June and August last year.

He also tried to communicate with her through a webcam.

When Stokes was arrested on 30 October, he had hidden a mobile phone under a pillow and another under his mattress.

Both phones were seized and it was found he had deleted 2324 items from one phone’s internet history. 

Communicating with a girl under 18 and deleting internet history put Stokes in breach of two conditions of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which was imposed at Peterborough Crown Court in March 2015 for previous breaches of orders.

Yesterday (17 January), at the same court, Stokes was jailed for 22 months, having pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and two breaches of his SHPO.

DC Claire Cummings, from the force’s management of sexual offenders team, said: “Stokes is a danger to children and we will always enforce SHPOs and make sure sex offenders are abiding by their conditions. 

“This sentence sends out a clear message that we will look to protect children and the vulnerable from harm.”

Description

A sex offender has been jailed after grooming and attempting to meet a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl.

Nigel Feckey travelled from his home in Nottinghamshire to Gwent, Wales, after making arrangements to meet the ‘teenager’.

He was arrested at Caerphilly railway station by officers from Gwent Police after they were tipped off by members of an online activist group.

Nottinghamshire Police launched an investigation after information was passed to detectives.

It was discovered during a detailed investigation that Feckey had also sent explicit messages to the person he believed was aged 14, as well as attempting to groom another individual he believed was 13.

Sixty-three-year-old Feckey, of Fredrick Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child after grooming and two counts of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity.

At Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (12 January) he was jailed for a total of four years and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He must also sign on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Description

Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, a man has been jailed after he was found guilty of two sexual assaults in Wokingham.

Dean Dowlutta, aged 40, of Crowthorne, was found guilty of the offences in a trial lasting four days at Reading Crown Court, which concluded on 3 November 2023.

Returning to the same court for sentencing last Friday (12/1), Dowlutta was jailed for a total of three and a half years.

The offences occurred on 1 September 2021 and 13 October 2021 in Wokingham.

On 1 September 2021, Dowlutta was at a gym studio in the town when he digitally sexually assaulted his victim with his finger.

The second offence occurred on 13 October 2021 when Dowlutta sexually assaulted the victim over her clothing by inappropriate touching.

Dowlutta was arrested on 16 October 2021 and was charged with the offences on 14 October 2022.

Investigating officer PC Hartnell said: “I am pleased that Dowlutta has been sentenced to prison for these offences.

“I would like to pay tribute to Dowlutta’s victim, who put her trust in our investigation to bring him to justice.

“She showed tremendous courage to report the offences and patience while we investigated and held Dowlutta to account.

“We will always investigate offences of this nature with utmost integrity and support victims throughout.

“Dowlutta will now serve a significant custodial sentence as a result of his actions, and I hope that the victim in this case will be able to put this ordeal behind her and move on with her life.”

Description

A man who began sexually assaulting a girl when she was aged just 10 has been jailed. 

Ryan Hunt, 28, was told he had exploited the girl’s vulnerabilities for his gratification as he was sentenced to three years and three months.

Norwich Crown Court was told he had been aged 16 when he grabbed the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sexually assaulting her and laughing.  

In a separate charge, he also had sex with a child on the eve of her 13th birthday and this had continued, the court heard. 

Hunt, of The Green, Freethorpe, near Cantley, had denied offences including sexual assault of a child under 13 between 2008 and 2012, and sexual activity with a child between 2014 and 2015. 

He was found guilty by a jury after a trial. 

Sentencing him to three years and three months, Judge Katharine Moore told him: “There was a disparity in age, power and circumstances between you. 

“Your victim was desperate for affection and you played upon this for your gratification.” 

As a result of his conviction, Hunt is also banned from working with children and vulnerable adults. 

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A South London man who sexually abused a child has been jailed after the victim bravely came forward many years later. Darren Barrett, 40, of Coventry Road, Croydon, was charged with two counts of indecent assault on July 22, 2022 after a Metropolitan Police investigation which began when his victim - who cannot be named for legal reasons - broke their silence in August 2021.

A Met Police spokesperson said: "Detectives began an investigation in August 2021 after a [person] contacted the Met to report that [they] had been sexually assaulted when [they were] a child."

Barrett was convicted on both counts at Croydon Crown Court and was jailed for 18 months on one count and nine months on another, to run concurrently. Detective Constable Chamberlain, who carried out the investigation, said: "It must have been incredibly difficult for the victim to come forward and speak about what [they] went through after so many years. I hope [they] will finally have some closure.

"This investigation and conviction demonstrates that the Met will take all allegations of sexual abuse seriously and we will follow the evidence to bring offenders to justice, no matter how long ago the offences occurred." Barrett was also put on the Sex Offender's Register for 10 years.

Description

A RAPIST who sexually assaulted a woman in a vulnerable state on Christmas Day before fleeing a fatal crash on the A127 has been jailed.

Thomas Black, 30 of Middle Street, Nazeing appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday where he was jailed for eight years after admitting multiple sexual offences including rape.

An investigation was launched on December 25, 2019, after police were called to an address in Westcliff in the early hours following concerns for a woman. Enquiries revealed the woman had been sexually assaulted while in a vulnerable state.

Later that same day, after he had "taken a cocktail of drink and drugs", according to an inquest, Black hit a pedestrian as they crossed the A127 in a fatal crash near the Dick Turpin pub.

Sentencing him in 2021, the magistrates' bench said the victim, Christian Taylor, 36, from Wickford, "may have survived had the defendant stopped".

The scene - the victim's body was not found until two days after the Christmas Day crash (Image: File photo)

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said there was not enough evidence to support him being charged with causing death by dangerous driving, and Black was charged with and admitted failing to stop and failing to report a crash. He was given four months in jail suspended for a year and 100 hours of unpaid work.

Black was arrested on suspicion of rape on Boxing Day of 2019 at his home address. In interview, Black denied his actions and he was released on bail while enquiries continued.

This included his phone being downloaded, which revealed several private sexual images of the victim, which had been taken without her consent and shared into a group chat.

Black was subsequently charged with rape of a woman over the age of 16 and sexual assault.

Despite initially pleading not guilty, Black changed his plea to guilty on the first day of the trial on November 20.

Speaking after the sentence, the victim described the devastating impact that Black’s crimes have had on her: “The entire investigation was tough and the embarrassment, degradation, anxiety and stress that this has caused me cannot be measured. His actions impacted my life in the worst way for four years and will remain with me forever.

“Detective Constable Jackie Spooner and Mandy Moxon from the investigation team could not have been any more supportive.

“DC Spooner left nothing unturned and I felt like she was determined to get justice for me. The team made me feel calm and at ease and their mannerisms were perfect in helping me throughout the difficult process.

“About three years into the investigation, I wanted to stop the whole thing. DC Spooner encouraged me to push on. She never gave up on me, I felt so protected.

“The prolonged amount of time it has taken to get justice has taken its toll on me.

“Moving forward, I have to deal with the continued anxiety, memories of this ordeal and also with my mistrust in men which I did not suffer from before this awful experience.

“Despite my horrendous ordeal, I’m so grateful for the support I received and I hope that this has inspired other victims, who haven’t found the strength to come forward yet to reach out and report. You will not be alone.”

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A manipulative rapist has been jailed after raping a woman twice in the toilets of Kings Cross railway station following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

Abdifatah Mohamud, 35, of Bingfield Street, Islington, was sentenced today (12 January) at Inner London Crown Court to 11 years after he was found guilty by a jury for two counts of rape. He was also handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a life-long signature on the Sex Offenders Register.

The court heard how, on 12th October 2022, at around 5pm, the victim was at a local park with a group which included Mohamud. He proceeded to claim he knew the victim, giving her his nickname and began talking to her.

Later, at around 10pm, the victim returned to Kings Cross railway station and joined the same group from earlier in the day. She was approached again by Mohamud where he proceeded to coerce her into the toilets where he raped her. 

Following this, Mohamud took the victim for food to manipulate her into believing he meant no harm. However, he later proceeded to coerce her once again into the toilets, forcing her to take drugs and raping her again. After the victim began getting upset and becoming vocal, Mohamud left the scene.

The victim was found in the toilets by a cleaner who in turn informed security and a report was made to British Transport Police.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Adrienne Curzon, said: “Mohamud is a calculating offender who used coercion and manipulation in order to rape the victim. This has been an extremely frightening experience for her, and I hope this outcome goes some way to help her move on from the traumatising ordeal she was subjected to.

“We take all reports of sexual offences seriously and I hope this sends a strong message to offenders that we will do everything in our power to ensure that justice is served.”

Description

AN AGEING paedophile who committed more than 500 child sex offences while he was living in Carlisle has been jailed for more than 30 years.

A judge told 78-year-old Stephen Mahoney, who admitted 12 sample charges encompassing multiple child rapes and indecent assaults against four victims, that he was the most prolific sex offender he had ever seen.

Mahoney originally denied wrongdoing but he finally admitted his guilt, pleading guilty to specimen charges that represent a catalogue of crimes over 17 years. 

They included hundreds of indecent assaults and rapes, dating back to the 1970s. He was finally brought to justice today, more than 50 years after his offending began. The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Until his arrest, Mahoney had been living at Glen Road, Wishaw, Glasgow.

Defence lawyer Jeff Smith said that Mahoney knew the 'inevitable outcome' of the offending but the sentencing was delayed so background reports could assess the defendant’s medical needs before he was jailed.

Mr Smith told Judge Michael Fanning that Mahoney - appearing before the court via a video link from Durham Prison - would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

His primary mitigation were his guilty pleas, said the lawyer.

Mahoney was a 24-year-old man when the authorities got their first clue to his sexual deviance: he was given a conditional discharge for indecently assaulting a female.

A year later, he was given three years for manslaughter.

His “catalogue of abuse” – consisting of almost 560 individual offences - was finally uncovered in June 2020, when one of his victims contacted the police. Those crimes, the court heard, included at least:

• 255 rapes
• 203 indecent assaults
• And 100 acts of indecency with a child
• The youngest victim was just four or five, the court heard.

Judge Fanning told the defendant: “You are certainly the most prolific sexual offender I have encountered in my 32 years in the law. I will steer clear of hyperbole – but the sheer volume of your offending and the period over which it was committed says it all…

“Yours was not one-off youthful indiscretion, grown out of sexual curiosity of immaturity. You are, or were, a sexually driven deviant serial rapist.”

The judge also referred to the impact statements of victims, whose lives were ruined, lived as they were for decades under the lasting shadow of the abuse.

All his victims feared him.

“You remain a high risk of sexual and violent offending,” the judge told Mahoney. During his appearance before the crown court late last year, the defendant appeared via a video link from his home.

He was wearing his slippers, dressing gown and pyjamas.  At today's hearing, Mahoney claimed not to know what was happening. Judge Fanning imposed a determinate sentence of 31 years and six months but also included a two year extension period.

Description

A jailed sex offender from Whitstable will serve a further prison term after a new investigation uncovered crimes that took place almost sixty years ago.

On 10 May 2022 and whilst in prison, Graham Kemp, previously of Gosselin Street, Whitstable, was charged with six new counts of indecent assault, one count of unlawful sex with a girl under 13 years old and one count of rape.

Previous sentence

Kemp, 76, had previously been sentenced in 2018 to five years and three months in prison, for committing a number of sex offences between the late 1990s and 2004. Those offences included the indecent assault of a young girl and indecency with a child.

After Kemp’s original conviction, further victims came forward and Kent Police began a complex investigation into reports of child sexual assault and rape that dated back to the 1960s.

New conviction

Kemp was sentenced to a further 21 years in prison on 5 January 2024, following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court.

Description

A Chatham sex offender who offered money to children he groomed and abused has been jailed for 13 years.

Matthew Lockwood used social media apps to target and manipulate teenage boys as young as 13.

Lockwood, of Edgewater on St Mary’s Island, accessed online platforms including Snapchat and Grindr during a campaign of abuse between 2016 and 2023.

He was arrested in February 2023 and an investigation linked the 47-year-old to a catalogue of offences, which included sexual activity with at least four children.

At Canterbury Crown Court, Lockwood pleaded guilty to 22 counts. These included charges of sexual activity with a child, paying for sexual services of a child, sexual exploitation of a child, and sexual communications with a child. He also admitted offences relating to the possession and distribution of thousands of illegal images of children, many in the most serious category and which included videos of some of the victims he had contact with.

Lockwood was sentenced on Friday 12 January 2024 to 13 years in jail. He was added to the Sex Offenders' Register for life and handed a 15 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.