Latest Offenders

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A former Edinburgh SNP activist who once tweeted how he wanted beat the f**k out of feminists has been jailed for sexually assaulting six young adults.

Cameron Downing, 24, preyed on his victims at locations across Scotland during a course of conduct which began when he was just 16-years-old.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how the abuse continued until February 2023. Police learned about his activities and launched a probe.

But the court heard that during the probe, officers discovered how Downing repeatedly blackmailed one of the men he preyed on.

He told his victim that if he didnt engage in sexual activity with him, hed make an allegation to the police about how he had been raped by the man.

The witness told the court that Downing said hed also contact his friends, family and employer and make the false rape allegation to them. The man, who is now aged 22, gave evidence and said he felt trapped by Downings threat.

Downing, a former drama student and an equalities convenor for the SNPs London branch, spent his trial denying any wrongdoing.

Downing, who told the jury in their evidence that they identified as being non binary, said he hadnt been threatening the male and was battling complex mental health issues at the time of the abuse.

But on Friday afternoon, after two days of deliberations, jurors found Downing, of Willowbrae, guilty on charges of sexual and physical assault.

Defence advocate Michael Meehan KC said his client was a first offender and asked for Downing, whose pronouns are he and they, for bail ahead of a sentencing hearing next month.

But judge Alison Stirling remanded Downing in custody and told them: Your status has changed. I will adjourn sentence to obtain a criminal justice social work report and you will be remanded in custody.

It is not the first time that Downing has came to public attention. Hes a former drama student who has acted in Edinburgh fringe productions. He also worked as an NHS contact tracer during the pandemic.

In 2022, it emerged that Downing tweeted about how he wanted to beat the f*** out of some terfs and transphobes. He also tweeted I f****** hate terfs and transphobes with such a passion.

The tweets caused Harry Potter author JK Rowling to say: Nicola Sturgeons Scotland: A place where an equalities officer feels free to declare in public how much he wants to beat up non-compliant women.

The comments made by Downing came to light after he had been elected as equalities officer for the SNPs London branch in October 2022. He later resigned from the post.

A photograph also emerged of Downing posing with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon at a SNP conference in Aberdeen.

The remarks made by Downing prompted SNP MP Joanna Cherry, a gender-critical feminist who has herself been called a transphobe for her positions on sex and gender, to condemn the remarks. She said the remarks were foul and violent and accused Downing of being misogynistic.

During proceedings, jurors were played a video recording of the evidence given by the 22-year-old victim who was blackmailed by Downing.

He told the court of how he and Downing had consensual sex but this stopped. The man, who cant be identified for legal reasons, told the court that Downings reaction to this decision terrified him.

The court heard that Downing threatened the man by telling him that if he didnt change his mind, he would tell the police of how the victim had raped him.

Downing said they had messages from the man that proved that he had sexually assaulted him.

He added: I felt trapped. I shouldnt have let it get to that point. He said that he would ruin my life. He said he would use them to put me behind bars.

He was going to tell my friends and family that I was a rapist and that I had done something wrong.

The jury were also shown messages that Downing sent to the victim. One message read: I dont care if youre not ready make yourself ready. Another message read of how Downing wanted his victim to continue having sex with them.

it read: You should want that with all of your f*****g being because the alternative is losing me from your life and most likely facing a court case for RAPING me.

One woman who was targeted by Downing spoke of how Downing was a bit of a loaded gun who could get personal and nasty with people.

Speaking about the abuse she suffered, the witness added: She said: "He would touch me inappropriately, like groping. It was mostly my breasts that he would touch, maybe some groping elsewhere. A lot of it I have filtered out."

The woman, now aged 24, said she attended a New Year party in January 2018 at a friend's home when she was still a teenager and Downing was among those present.

She said Downing came up to her and told her a boy had said he thought she was "hot" until she discovered food.

She said: "It devastated me because I had quite a few body issues. I got quite upset about that comment. I drank far too much and I got quite drunk. I started to feel really sick."

She said Downing told her he would help her to an upstairs bathroom and she ended up being sick. She said: "I am sure Cameron said to me I needed to go for a shower. After that I dont really remember anything. All I remember is how my friend found me and the bruises I had."

She said she remembered "pieces", including Downing telling her she had to take her clothes off and her dress being taken off.

She later woke up in bed and Downing came into the room and she said "snarled in my face, everything was my fault and he had to leave now because of me".

The following day she noticed she was "covered in bruises" and said: "It was like I had been battered."

She said: "I had bruises that looked like they came from Cameron." She said there were marks of her arms that looked like little indents caused by fake nails.

She said she spoke to Downing via Snapchat but said he started "getting very personal about my mental health" and told her they were were gay and wouldn't want to "look at your saggy t**s anyway.

She said she did not speak to Downing for a long time afterwards but later met them at an Edinburgh club where he came up to her and said they were bi now and asked to have sex with her.

Following conviction, Downing was placed in handcuffs and taken to the cells of the high court. He turned to family members who sat in the courts public benches and said: I love you.

Downing will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on July 16 2024

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Riccardo Gargiulo, of Orford, has been given a THIRD chance, having been spared jail twice before including after he was caught with almost three million depraved images of child sex abuse.

The 55-year-old has again been caught possessing such vile images, and he also engaged in sex chats under an online pseudonym without informing the authorities, which he is banned from doing.

Despite police knowing about all this, there was an unexplained 17-month delay before the case was presented for the defendant to be charged meaning a judge felt a suspended sentence was appropriate punishment.

Gargiulo appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced on charges of possessing indecent images of children and two counts of making them.

He also breached his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and his sex offender registry requirements, with both having been imposed on him for previous relevant offending.

Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, explained how in November 2021, Cheshire Police received intelligence from the National Crime Agency linked to the defendants home address in Warrington.

A warrant was executed on April 5, 2022, and during a search of the property, officers seized 12 electronic devices, which were sent away for analysis.

A report was produced on September 24 that year detailing how 11 of the devices did not contain any incriminating material.

However, a black Asus Nexus tablet computer was found to contain 15 indecent images of children.

Three of them, showing girls aged between 11 and 14, were graded as category A the most severe grading involving child rape.

The remaining 12 were judged to be category C, but these involved girls as young as 10 years of age.

Gargiulo has two previous convictions for seven offences, the first of which saw him sentenced to 10 months in prison suspended for two years in September 2018.

This came after he was caught with nearly three million indecent images of children as part of an extensive collection, involving children aged as young as nine and amassed over a period of five years.

Police had previously raided his home in August 2017, with a laptop and hard drives seized from the property.

Officers were unable to analyse all of the 2.9million images found due to the sheer number, and instead looked at a sample.

Gargiulo, described as an isolated and lonely man, had also bookmarked a Russian website well-known for containing indecent images of children on his internet browser.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offender register for 10 years and abide by the terms of a SHPO for the same period of time.

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A TRANSITIONING sex offender who posed as a teenage girl online and shared indecent child images told a court, ‘that wasn’t me’.

Emma Davies, 60, pretended to be a 14-year-old to talk to girls of a similar age and shared an explicit image of a young girl she had received, presenting it as herself.

The supermarket worker told Workington Magistrates’ Court she took responsibility for what happened but that person was ‘not who she is today’.

Outlining the case, prosecutor Pamela Fee said police attended Davies’ home address at Moor Place in Frizington on August 31 last year.

Officers had received information that Davies, who was then known as Nigel, had been accessing images of children online.

Police seized devices and a category C image was located on two devices. The image was of a 13-year-old girl and there were other images of the same child on the devices.

Davies was first interviewed by police on August 31. She said she had been diagnosed as a ‘possible transexual’ and thought she could be a girl.

The defendant said she had never asked for sexual images. She said she had pretended to be a 14-year-old girl online and had talked to girls of a similar age.

They talked about things such as music and depression, she said, and it ‘allowed her to be someone who is not me’.

Davies was interviewed again in December 2023 and was shown the image that had been found on her devices.

She said she could recall the image but didn’t know who it was. She said they had ‘got talking’ and the girl had sent a topless image without her asking.

Davies couldn’t remember which platform it had been sent on and said she believed the girl was 13 or 14. The defendant said she thought she would have been presenting  as a teenage girl when the image was sent to her.

She said the image wasn’t for her own sexual gratification but was for the ‘persona of who she wanted to be’.

Davies said she had then shared the image of the girl online, pretending it was herself. She said she was always in her ‘teen girl role’ when she shared the images. 

The defendant transitioned in February this year, the court heard.

Ms Fee said: “There’s clearly a need for a sexual harm prevention order. There is a risk of further sexual harm.

“She was presenting herself as a young girl to speak to other young girls of a similar age. She has used devices to speak to people before and then got rid of them.

“A small number of images were found. She sent those images on to other people, presenting them as herself. That person is a victim of sexual abuse online.”

Davies, who was not legally represented, told the court: “It’s quite a difficult period in my life. I have a little bit of concern about who I am today and what happened back then. That wasn’t me.

“I have moved on with who I am. I take responsibility for what was happening. I didn’t distribute images, as far as I can remember. For anything that happened, I am sorry.

“Over the last nine months, I have lost a lot. I made the decision to rebuild my life. I’m transitioning. I would like the opportunity to progress with that.

“I’m the happiest I have ever been in my life. When I speak to probation, it’s distressing for me to go back to a person that I am not. I don’t like that person.

“It was me but it’s not me now.”

Davies told magistrates she was not a threat to the public and no longer goes online.

She said: “I want to move away and start again because that’s not going to happen round here.

“The person I was, wasn’t a very nice person, I suppose. I find it very distressing and unsettling to bring this person back into my life.”

Davies, of Moor Place, Frizington, had admitted making two category C indecent images of a child and failing to surrender to court bail at an earlier hearing.

Passing sentence, magistrates imposed a five-year sexual harm prevention order and a 12-month community order with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Davies is required to present herself at the police station as a sex offender within three days.

She was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

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A man has been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to 20 offences including making and distributing indecent images of children.

James Green, 45, of Colne Road, Clacton-on-Sea, was sentenced when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday 12 June.

He previously admitted:

• Three counts of distributing an indecent image of a child
• Three counts of making indecent images of a child
• Possession of extreme pornographic image
• Possession of a prohibited image of a child
• 10 counts of a breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and Sex offenders’ notification requirements

Officers launched an investigation after we received information regarding illegal online activity which was linked to Green.

Essex Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) went to Green’s home in April this year after receiving information that he had attempted to access indecent images of children and breached his order.

Under the requirements of Green’s order, he was prevented from using any device which could access the internet or possess a phone not notified to police.

He was arrested after initially trying to hide his phone. The device, hidden under a tile in his ceiling, was found to contain illegal content.

He answered no comment during questioning but was charged and remanded into custody.

He plead guilty on Tuesday 30 April after the irrefutable evidence against him.

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Sebastine Kava Liliu - the first Solomon Islander to join the service - raped his vulnerable victim in bushes just yards from The Astoria nightclub in Winston Churchill Avenue and left her in floods of tears on February 11 just after 1am.

Liliu, of no fixed address, was charged with rape before admitting the offence at Portsmouth Crown Court previously and was sentenced to six years in prison at the same court today (Thursday 13 June). He will also be subject to the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Upon sentencing the judge, Michael Bowes KC, said: “What you did that night has had a very profound effect on the aggrieved. As well as the physical damage you caused, you have caused psychological harm that will remain with her for many years, and probably the rest of her life.”

A 28-year-old man from Portsmouth previously arrested on suspicion of rape as part of police enquiries was released without charge and will face no further action.

DI Marcus Baker from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s specialist Operation Amberstone team said: “Today’s sentence sends a clear message that Sebastine Kava Liliu’s behaviour will not be tolerated. He targeted a woman who was enjoying a night out and had attacked her within twenty minutes of first coming into contact with her. Our officers on patrol in the area identified that she was in a distressed state shortly afterwards and an investigation was immediately launched.

I’m pleased that this sentence will finally provide some closure to his victim. I’d like to commend her bravery and I hope this case encourages others to speak out and seek support if they have been victims of sexual assaults.

We are continuing to carry out work in Portsmouth to keep people safe in our night time economy. This involves dedicated patrols and work with other agencies, including Portsmouth City Council, the Violent Crime Reduction Unit, and security and staff at all of our licensed premises. We have also been focused on educating the public on what constitutes a sexual offence, how they can report and the support available to them.

We take all allegations of rape and sexual assault extremely seriously and have specially trained teams that can investigate these kinds of offences and provide support to victims. If you have experienced these kinds of offences, it is our promise to you that you will be heard and listened to, and your report will be believed. We are determined to put victims first and relentlessly pursue offenders, especially when investigating these kinds of cases.”

A police spokesperson added: “We want to encourage anyone who has been affected by sexual assault to contact police on 101, where you can speak to an officer in confidence.

“We recognise that not everyone has the confidence to talk to police about what they have experienced. Please be reassured that there are other services available that can offer you specialist support to help you deal with the impact of abuse.”

For information and contact details relating to sexual abuse support services, visit: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/support-for-victims-of-rape-and-sexual-assault/

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A RAPIST has been jailed for eight years at Bradford Crown Court.

Luke Fox, 37, of Mornington Road, Bingley, pleaded guilty on the third day of his trial to rape, strangulation, battery, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).

The court heard that Fox had previous convictions for violent conduct and harassment and had served time in prison, but Judge Nadim said: “You appear to have learned little from that experience.”

Judge Ahmed Nadim treated the rape as the lead offence, which was aggravated by the charges of strangulation, battery, and ABH, and sentenced Fox to a total of eight years in prison.

He told Fox, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, that the victim was scarred by his actions and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“You will serve two-thirds of the sentence that I have passed upon you in custody whereafter you will be released on licence,” he said.

Fox will be added to the sex offender’s register for life.

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A registered sex offender who breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) multiple times has been jailed.

Graham Robinson, from Faversham, was convicted at Canterbury Crown Court in 2018 of possessing indecent images of children and was made subject to strict conditions on his behaviour.

These included restrictions around his access to mobile phones or computers and his use of the internet.

He was also required to notify the police of any devices and bank accounts he possessed and allow his devices to be examined whenever it was requested.

The SHPO also required Robinson to install monitoring software on his phone and other internet-enabled devices, to allow officers to check he was not committing further offences or breaching the conditions imposed by the court.

Between 2020 and 2022, investigators completed unannounced visits to Robinson’s home and discovered multiple breaches.

On one occasion, a smartphone was recovered at his property that he claimed belonged to a friend.

When the officers called the number they had had for Robinson the phone rang and it was seized.

Two phones and two internet-enabled devices that he hadn’t declared were recovered during a further inspection and investigators found Robinson had been using software to wipe his phone and computer.

In February 2022, Robinson was arrested and officers located a tablet, multiple USB drives and other storage devices at his home.

They also found he had several bank cards and accounts he had not disclosed.

During the search, the constables seized a flick knife and a credit card that concealed three blades.

The devices seized from Robinson were forensically examined and found to contain more than 460,000 images.

A proportion of the content was reviewed, and officers discovered 138 indecent images of children.

Eight were of the most serious category. There was also evidence of 23 extreme pornographic images.

Robinson, of Beech Close, was later charged and, at Maidstone Crown Court pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child, three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, seven counts of breaching his sexual harm prevention order, three counts of failing to comply with notification requirements of the sex offenders register and having an offensive weapon in a private place.

Today (Thursday, June 13) the 66-year-old was sentenced to three years in jail.

He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will remain in place for 15 years and was also added to the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely.

Detective constable Jamie Easdown, of the Swale offender management unit, said: “We regularly visit registered sex offenders living in our communities to monitor their conduct and ensure they are complying with any conditions in place to prevent further crimes. We install software on their devices to monitor activity online and will promptly complete searches at home addresses if we suspect further offences.

“In this way, we endeavour to protect the most vulnerable in our community and, where any breaches are discovered, they will be arrested and brought back before the court to answer for their actions.”

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A 39 year old man has been jailed for 18 years after he spiked a woman’s drink, dragged her to his hotel room and raped her.

Following a British Transport Police Investigation dubbed Operation Milkwort, Siyabonga Dunga, of Sweet Street, Holbeck, Leeds, was found guilty of committing an offence with the intention of committing a sexual offence, rape, kidnap and administering a substance with intent by a jury at Leeds Crown Court on Friday 19 April.

He was jailed for 18 years today, Thursday 13 June and must sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

The court heard how, in the early hours of Saturday 21 January 2023, Dunga gave the woman a drink at the Back Room Bar in Leeds and shortly afterwards she became disorientated and confused.

On the pretence of coming to her aid, Dunga helped the woman outside to get some air and in a bid to separate her from her friend, asked the friend to go back into the club telling her the woman had left her phone inside.

In fact, he had the woman’s phone in his pocket.

While the friend was inside looking for the phone Dunga took the woman, who could not walk unaided, back to a nearby hotel.

CCTV from the hotel shows the woman collapse and become unresponsive while Dunga dragged her back to his room where he carried out the rape.

Investigating officer DC Andy Jones said: “Dunga is a dangerous and calculating sexual predator who is thankfully now off the streets.

“By her own admission the woman has been left a shell of her former self. Her last memory is of being in the club and saying to her friend she wanted to go home before waking up in a hotel room with Dunga.

“I commend her bravery and strength throughout the investigation – she has supported us every step of the way despite struggling with the trauma which she still endures. She remained insistent that this should not happen to anyone else.

“The events of that night continue to haunt her and it is hoped that now Dunga is behind bars where he belongs it will help in some small way to her getting her life back.

“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

A man who was previously convicted of a series of sexual abuse on a young girl more than 20 years ago has been jailed for 28 years.

Mark Anthony Foster, (who is also known as Tony), of Forster Avenue, Weaverham, was found guilty of 11 counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14, four counts of rape of a girl under 16, four counts of gross indecency with a girl under 14, plus one count of rape of a girl over 16, on Friday 12 April following a 13-day trial at Chester Crown Court.

The 62-year-old appeared back at the same court to be sentenced on Thursday 13 June.

The court had heard Foster committed a number of indecent assaults and rapes on a girl between 1995 and 2001, when the victim was aged between nine and sixteen.

The case came to the attention of Cheshire Police in August 2020 when the victim bravely came forward to disclose what had happened to her.

She reported the offences took place in the Northwich area by Foster. Over a period of seven years, Foster groomed the victim, subjecting her to multiple indecent assaults and rapes.

The offences became more violent as time progressed, including administering the victim with medication before raping her.

In interviews following his arrest, Foster continued to deny the allegations, but was subsequently charged in January 2023 and found guilty following a 13-day trial.

On top of his 28-year custodial sentence, Foster will be subject to an indefinite restraining order to protect the victim, an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, and will be subject to the sex offender register for life. 

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Steven Kerley, 36, of Park View, Brierley, in Barnsley, has been sent to prison for a series of offences including sexual assault.

Officers responded to a report of a sexual assault of a 25-year-old woman in Barnsley on 2 May 2021.

An investigation was immediately launched, and a scene established at the location of the assault, attended by CSI. House to house and CCTV enquiries were also carried out.

In addition, officers put safeguarding measures in place to ensure the wellbeing of the victim.

Officers arrested Kerley on 5 May 2021, and he was bailed pending further enquiries. Kerley was charged with assault by penetration on 10 August 2022.

Kerley was convicted of sexual assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and engaging in coercive/controlling behaviour, at Sheffield Crown Court court on 24 April, and was found not guilty of six other counts.

He was handed an extended sentence of 21 years comprising of 18 years imprisonment and an extension period of 3 years at the same court on Friday 7 June.

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A 60-year-old Fife man is behind bars for sexually assaulting two women and taking photos and video during one attack on an unconscious victim.

George McGillvary used a sex toy on one of the women while she was unconscious on the floor at an address in Inverkeithing.

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A disgraced Perth scientist caught with an illicit stash of child abuse material used a new name without telling police, a court has heard.

Connor Sword was arrested in 2019 after police unearthed hundreds of obscene files on his home computer.

Description

Pervert Neil Darlington used artificial intelligence to blackmail 'children' into sending him nude photos of themselves. The 'isolated' 51-year-old downloaded images of children as young as three being raped and abused.

And in February this year his offending escalated and he engaged in sex chats with two schoolgirls online. However, he was in fact talking to undercover police officers.

He asked them to send naked pictures of themselves and when they finally relented and sent clothed pictures he used AI technology to alter the images so they were naked. He then blackmailed the 'youngsters' to send him genuine pictures of themselves with nothing on or he would send the pictures he had manipulated to people they knew.

Now Darlington has been jailed for 12 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. He was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and was placed on the sex offenders' register for the same period.

The court heard on February 14, Darlington, using an alias, chatted online with an 11-year-old girl from Norwich. He said he was 16. The conversation very quickly became sexual.

He was unaware it was an undercover officer and he sent her a picture of his private area and a video of himself performing a sex act. He persisted in asking the child for sexual images of herself. But she sent a picture of herself clothed. He altered the image using AI technology and sent her the image back of herself naked. She said, 'Oh my God, please delete that'. Darlington said, 'How many boys you know would like to see this'? She said, 'Please do not show anyone the photo. I am scared'.

He told her to take a naked selfie of herself. She told him she was at school and was going to cry. But he sent her a screenshot of a conversation of him offering to show her picture to someone else. She said, 'Why would you do this to me? I have been nice to you'.

Darlington told another girl he was 16 and then changed his age to 25. He engaged in sexualised conversation with her between February 5 and 12. He sent images of his private area and a video of himself or someone else performing a sex act.

He sought sexual images from the child. She eventually relented and sent a picture of herself clothed. Darlington again altered the picture using AI technology. She begged him not to show it to anyone. But he asked her for a naked picture of herself naked or said he would distribute the image to her family or friends.

Darlington said he was going to kill himself when he was arrested on February 22.

Police found indecent images of children at categories A, B and C and pseudo images of children on his phone. The children were aged three to 15. The images showed children as young as three being raped.

Darlington, of Mayer Avenue, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to two charges of blackmail; three charges of making indecent photographs of children; making indecent pseudo images of children; two charges of attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity; and two charges of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Robert Holt, mitigating, said Darlington had never been in trouble before. He said: "There have been a poor run of events in the last 10 years and he became isolated and did not communicate with many people. He has fallen into a vicious trap."

He said Darlington was remanded in custody over the weekend which led to him suffering an angina attack and being a high risk of a stroke. Mr Holt said: "The defendant tells me the last four days have been horrific. They have terrified him."

He said Darlington's viewing of images began in 2021 but escalated in a two-week period this year when he began to engage in chat rooms. Mr Holt added: "He accepts his responsibility for this. His remorse is genuine."

Judge Michael Maher said blackmail is 'one of the ugliest crimes and is rightly regarded by the public with loathing and contempt'. He said: "Causing a child to watch a sexual act is a precursor to you blackmailing the children for genuine sexual images. I regard the blackmail as a serious aggravating feature. In this case you sought to take advantage of the perceived vulnerability of your child victims and you used embarrassment as the leverage to secure genuine sexual images of the children for your perceived sexual gratification. Your intention was manifestly clear.

"I regard the blackmail aspect as a serious aggravating feature. This sentencing exercise should have a deterrent aspect to it. I cannot impose anything other than a sentence of immediate imprisonment."

Description

A RAPIST has been jailed for more than four years for multiple sexual offences and making indecent images of children.

An investigation into Alex Symeonides, of Westcliff Park Drive, Westcliff, was launched in October after Essex Police's specialist team received intelligence that the 20-year-old was using an internet connection to view indecent images of children.

He was arrested and during interview he admitted accessing indecent images of children.

As the investigation progressed, officers found a number of indecent images on his devices. They also discovered evidence of sexual assault offences.

Following this work Symeonides was charged with two counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and he admitted all these charges at court.

Symeonides appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Monday, 10 June where he was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.

Detective Constable Matthew Wright, who led the investigation, said: “Symeonides is a dangerous offender and Essex is a safer place with him behind bars.

“We are committed to protecting people from harm and will leave no stone unturned in our work to secure charges against predatory offenders.

“Our forensic and detailed work throughout this investigation revealed additional offending and with the evidence placed in front of him, Symeonides had no option but to admit his guilt.

“Essex is no place to hide for sexual offenders and those who abuse children.

“I hope this sentence helps those impacted by Symeonides’ crimes on their road to recovery.”

Alongside his jail sentence Symeonides was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Last year, Essex Police's online investigation team made more than 600 arrests or suspect interviews for these offences and secured 424 charges – the most of any force anywhere in the UK.

In the past year the team also solved 92 per cent of the 450 investigations they carried out.

Essex Police has the third highest conviction rate for sexual offences which make it to court, while last year the force also safeguarded more than 2,500 children from sexual crimes.

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A paedophile who managed to stay out of jail said he would take his own life is he was put behind bars for breaching the sex offender register.

Ricky Johnson was known as Terence Murkin when he was given a suspended sentence last year for trying to groom a 13-year-old online. But he then breached the terms and was brought back before Leeds Crown Court this week.

The court heard that the 63-year-old had threatened suicide if he was jailed, but Judge Simon Batiste, who also dealt with him last year, locked him up. He told him: “In my judgement, you were warned by me that you must complete the requirements of the order. It was made to clear to you [what would happen if you didn’t comply], and I’m going to keep my word in that regard.”

He was handed a 21-month jail sentence, suspended for 24 months in February of last year when he was caught making sexual suggestions to a young girl online. The profile was run by a hunter group trying to catch out predators online.

As part of his sentence, he was also given 130 hours of unpaid work, 30 rehabilitation days, and ordered onto a sex offender programme. He was also put on the sex offender register and given a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Prosecutor Amber Walker said during routine police checks at his home on Earl Street, Wakefield, following his conviction, they found he had opened a bank account and had not told officers, which put him in breach of the sex offender register.

It was also found that he deleted his internet search history, which he is forbidden to do under the terms of the SHPO. He admitted both breaches this week, having initially denied them.

Mitigating, Leila Taleb said he had initially accepted his wrongdoing during his police interview, but said “acting on legal advice”, then denied it, before finally seeing sense.

Judge Batiste jailed him for 21 months in total, including 12 months activated from his suspended sentence. He said that steps would be taken to ensure his welfare after making the comment about taking his own life.