Latest Offenders

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This is the face of a monster paedophile every parent should see after a family's 'two years of hell.' So 'disturbing' were Edwin Darby's police confessions, one officer reportedly had to stop the interview.

Though the 67-year-old was jailed for 54 months and ordered to sign the sex offenders register, the victim's mum fumed he could be out in just over two years and "doesn't have a neon sign on him." She wants everyone to know his name and face in the hope that he's never able to hurt anyone else.

Darby, of Northampton, admitted two counts of assault by touching on a girl under 13. His mugshot, released by West Midlands Police, can now be revealed following the sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court on May 5.

Details of the lorry driver's sickening crimes emerged after the mum's children reported Darby had 'moonied' in front of them, she said. After opening up an honest conversation over 'private areas', one of her children made a harrowing disclosure.

"The way she said it so innocently and blasé, so matter of fact, I was like, 'no this can't be'," recalled the mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons. West Midlands Police was alerted, with the mother and daughter interviewed at the station.

"I was told he [Darby] had made some disclosures to police," she added. "The police officer at the time said he had to stop the police interview because he was so disturbed."

As Darby was jailed, he was also handed a sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register. A restraining order was imposed and the trucker will, or may be, barred from working with children and or vulnerable adults upon his release, the court said.

The victim's mum added: "This person's a monster. I don't want him to be able to hurt anyone else, ever," said the mum. "Ok so he's on the sex offenders register, ok so he's got a sexual harm prevention order, but he hasn't got a neon sign on him.

"He could carry on and live his life and nobody would be any wiser. He could put himself in situations and befriend people and they will be in danger again. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to anyone else.

"I can't settle. He has the ability to befriend people very quickly, very easily." She hopes by telling her story, other victims of sexual abuse will feel more comfortable in coming forward to police.

Description

An entrenched paedophile was caught by undercover police sending sick sexual videos to what he thought were 12-year-old girls. Daniel Keenor used encrypted chat sites to share movies of very young children being abused by adults.

The 46-year-old also suggested meeting up with the girls to have sex and give them drugs. What he did not know was that the 'children' were undercover police officers.

Cops went to his house in Paignton and arrested him. Keenor is a registered sex offender with a long history of similar offending.

Exeter Crown Court was told he had previously completed a sex offender programmes to change his deviant behaviour but it had not worked. He admitted 18 offences relating to the sharing and possession of indecent images and to attempting to engage children in sexual communication and activity.

Recorder Mathew Turner said he posed a risk of offending again. He jailed him for seven years and nine months and added an extra sentence of two years and nine months to be served on licence.

Police started their investigation into his online activities in 2022. He made contact with a succession of undercover officers posing as children or parents. A feature of all Keenor's offending was his use of sites such as Wikr, WhatsApp and Kik to chat and send images.

In June of last year he contacted what he thought was the father of a 12-year-old on a fetish website and quickly diverted the chat to an encrypted platform. He discussed having sex with the child and plying her with drugs. He then sent the 'father' 109 indecent movies of children. Some were in the most serious category and included infants as young as two years old.

Keenor also made contact with what he thought was the mother of a 10-year-old and suggested meeting her to have sex. He shared further movies.

In December he sent a friend request to an undercover officer posing as a 12-year-old girl called Ruby. He asked for sexual images of her and sent some of a penis and other extreme images involving animals.

His offending continued into 2023 when he shared further images and encouraged the fictional child to "get naked" and engage in sexual activity.

Keenor was jailed for two years in 2013 for distributing indecent images and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to control his behaviour. He went on to breach that order several times and commit similar offences.

A pre-sentence report by probation described him as entrenched and persistent in his behaviour. Recorder Turner said the defendant's offending started after the break-up of a relationship and his risk increased due to leading an isolated life.

He said he had no doubt Keenor posed a significant risk of committing similar offences in the future and an extended sentence was merited.

Keenor, of Rosemary Gardens, must serve two thirds of his seven years and three month sentence before the parole board considers whether he is safe to release. He will be subject to an extended licence period for the full 10 years.

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A man has been jailed for child sex offences committed on the Lincolnshire coast over a period of nearly two years. Kevin Clarke, 38, of Gresley Close, Leicester was given six years in prison at Leicester Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to nine charges.

Clarke was sentenced for offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual communication with a child. He was also sentenced for making and possessing illegal images of children, including 269 images in category A, and two in the extreme category.

The charges relate to offences that happened in Skegness, between January 1, 2021 and October 28, 2022. DC Michelle Adamson, of Lincolnshire Police PVP, said: "Clarke had built a relationship with the victim knowing, when the relationship began, she was just 14 years old.

"Getting this man convicted means he will not be able to offend against any other child or young person."

Description

A paedophile was ensnared when he sent a picture of his car's registration plates over Snapchat after recording a girl flashing him on webcam.

Charlie White was caught confessing to wanting "late night fun" with a 12-year-old child during an online sting. Once he was rumbled, the 20-year-old admitted to having a stash of indecent images on his phone - including a video showing him begging a teenager to lift up her top.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday, that he first contacted a Snapchat profile which, unbeknown to him, was being operated by undercover police on January 10 this year. White - operating on an account with the name "User127" - told the decoy, which was positing as a 12-year-old girl, that he was "looking for a friendly person to chat to".

David Watson, prosecuting, described how he said he was "looking for a friendly person to chat to". The following day, the defendant messaged saying he was "looking for a younger girl" and that "maybe they could have fun".

White, of Domville in Whiston, then sent a picture of his penis alongside the message "I hope we can have fun". When he was told the girl's supposed age, he replied: "I'm fine with it if you want to.

"It's up to you. It could be fun."

Giving a fake name of Josh, White asked for lewd pictures of the youngster and told her she was "cute" before requesting that she take a selfie in the bathroom. On January 13, he stated that he worked in a nightclub in St Helens while she gave her location as being in Exeter.

Contact continued the next day, when the pervert sent a photograph exposing himself with the caption: "Hope you like it. Maybe you can send too, I'd love to see your body."

White confessed to wanting to meet up with the schoolgirl and sent a picture showing his face, saying: "If it's ok with you, it's completely fine with me. You're stunning."

He said he wanted "late night fun" and went on to make a further request for indecent images after asking "how school was going". Despite being told he was making her "feel uncomfortable", White sent another photo of his genitals followed by six videos of him performing a sex act - telling her she should "give it a go".

Officers were able to identify him as the offender after he sent a picture of his car showing the registration plate. An Apple iPhone was seized upon his arrest at his home on March 8 and was found to contact a number of indecent pictures and videos.

Under interview, White stated that he had been trying to "relieve stress". While he denied having a sexual interest in children, he did say "he thought he needed help" and confessed that further materials would be found on the device.

When police examined the phone further, they discovered a recording of a video call captured on January 14. This showed White chatting with an unidentified girl, estimated to be aged between 12 and 14.

During the 24-second clip, he is seen to type in a chat box asking for a "flash" - at which point the youngster lifts up her top. The sex offender then messaged asking for more but the girl refused to show him her body any further.

White replied "worth a try" before she turned off the camera. He has no previous convictions.

Peter White, defending, told the court: "I accept there is little mitigation other than Mr White's prompt guilty plea and cooperation with the police. It does appear he was in difficult circumstances, but he accepts that is no justification for his behaviour.

"He is still a young man himself. He is still quite immature.

"He is an intelligent young man, a fairly polite and educated young person. This issue has shown its ugly head.

"He wants to accept any help so that it doesn't rear its ugly head again. He tells me he wishes to seek employment when his case is over.

"He wants to make something of his life and be a positive member of society. Hitherto, Mr White has been of previous good character."

White - who was supported by his mum, sister and partner in the public gallery - admitted inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, taking indecent images, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, attempting sexual communications with a child, two counts of possession of indecent images and three counts of making indecent images. He was jailed for two years.

Sentencing, Recorder Richard Pratt KC said: "The level of coercion demonstrates, in my view, a serious sexual problem. It is to your credit that, not only did you plead guilty, but you indicated there may be further images on your phones.

"I have had regard to your age, your immaturity and the fact that you have no previous convictions at all. Your persistent denials do not bode well."

White was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for the same period.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE was snared as he tried to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old boy in Carmarthenshire.

On March 7 of this year, Emyr Anthony initiated contact online with who he thought was a teenage boy – but was in fact a decoy account.

The decoy replied the following day and the conversation moved to WhatsApp, where the decoy told Anthony he was 14, prosecutor Alycia Carpanini told Swansea Crown Court.

Anthony replied: ‘Yeah that’s okay, as long as you’re okay with my age’. He is 59.

Ms Carpanini said the defendant told the decoy he “likes kissing, cuddling, masturbating and sucking”, and “would go slowly” with the decoy. He also asked for a “sexy photograph”.

Anthony’s messages continued in a sexual nature, talking about masturbation and telling the decoy they would “work up slowly to penetration”.

They arranged to meet that day in Cross Hands. When the defendant arrived at the meeting spot, he was arrested by police.

He answered no comment in his interview that day, but at Magistrates’ Court admitted the offences.

Anthony, of Hawthorn Avenue in Gorseinon, has two previous convictions – in 2000 and 2011 – for 35 offences.

The court heard these convictions related to having indecent images of children, and Anthony had been subject to a sexual harm prevention order, which expired in 2021.

“Clearly the mitigation in this case is limited,” David Singh, representing Anthony, admitted.

He said the author of a pre-sentence report had said Anthony was “at a loss” to explain the reason behind his offending.

“I’m not here to lecture you but it seems to me the interest you have shown sexually is an unhealthy and paedophilic interest in young boys,” Judge Huw Rees told the defendant.

Mr Singh said his client would benefit from professional intervention and support to address his offending, as he had not received that in the past.

Anthony was jailed for two years for arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and was handed a six-month sentence, running concurrently, for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

He was told he must register as a sex offender for 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.

A joint operation by Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit and Dyfed-Powys Police had resulted in the arrest and prosecution of Anthony.

Detective Inspector Mathew Davies, of Tarian, said: “This is excellent joint working between Tarian and Dyfed-Powys Police. The focus of the operation was to target high-harm offenders, whilst safeguarding and protecting children.

“At Tarian, we have specialist officers who work tirelessly to protect children online as well as target those perpetrators, such as Anthony.

“It is our absolute priority to protect and keep children safe in our communities.

“If anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, I urge you to report it to your local police force via 101. We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred.

"Victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators and we can also help them get access to a range of other support services.

“If you have concerns about your use of the internet or inappropriate thoughts or behaviour about children or if you are worried about how someone you know behaves around children or are worried about their use of the internet then the Lucy Faithfull Foundation provide a free, anonymous and confidential Stop It Now! helpline on 0808 1000 900 for advice, support and information.”

Description

A serial sex offender has been jailed after he went off the polices radar for almost two weeks before being tracked down to Totnes.

Gary Taylor, aged 63, formerly of Salisbury and the Isle of Wight, but now of no fixed address, was required to tell police about his movements because he has a history of sexual assaults on vulnerable lone females and is a registered sex offender.

Taylor was categorised as a dangerous offender when he was jailed for a total of eight years and four months in 2015 for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman who had mental health issues.

He approached her while she was sitting on a bench in June 2014 and offered her a cigarette and whisky before taking a spot her to a bridge at Summerlock Approach where he was sleeping rough.

He went on to sexually assault her, leaving her traumatised. She told police Taylor was rank and she had told him to leave her alone. She later said she felt sick and terrified.

He also has convictions for sexually assaulting lone females on trains and was already on the register when he committed the offence in Salisbury.

Taylor admitted failing to comply with the sex offenders register.

He left his home on the Isle of Wight without informing the authorities on February 11 this year and did not turn up again until February 22, when he presented himself at Torquay police station but refused to complete the necessary forms.

He was eventually arrested in Totnes the next day and had apparently been living rough in Devon. He claimed he wanted to be arrested so he could get treatment for a hip condition.

Taylor has been jailed for nine months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: This was a deliberate failure to comply, in particular by leaving the Isle of Wight and going off elsewhere. It caused more than a little upset and concern because you went a significant distance from where the authorities had tabs on you.

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said Taylor is on the register for life and required to notify police if he was away from his home address for more than three days.

He left home without telling the police in February before turning up in Devon, where he failed to re-register correctly at Torquay Police station on February 22 and being arrested in Totnes the next day.

Taylor was not represented but told the judge he had been confused by the law. He said he went to the police station in the hope of being arrested but had been turned away.

He said: I went to get arrested because I needed treatment for a broken hip but it was not until the next day that I got picked up for something else.

Description

A Glastonbury sex offender has been jailed for 10 years. Stuart Marchmont, 38, was found guilty of 13 online sexual offences after a trial in February.

He incited a girl, aged 12 at the time, from another part of the country to engage in sexual activity via an online platform. Following an investigation, agencies including Avon and Somerset Police and the South West, South East and Tarian Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) identified that Marchmont was from Avon and Somerset.

He continued to try to contact five underage children. However, he was actually messaging specialist ROCU officers who target offenders operating online to exploit and abuse children.

Marchmont, formerly of Park Farm Road, was handed a 10-year sentence at Taunton Crown Court last Wednesday (April 26). The sentence was for one count of inciting a child under 13 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity and 10 counts of attempting to engage or incite sexual activity with the children who did not actually exist.

Further offences also came to light upon his arrest in 2021. He was subsequently sentenced for one count each of causing non-penetrative sexual activity with a 15-year-old and making indecent images of the same child.

Alongside his prison sentence, Marchmont received an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. This will ensure he is monitored upon his future release and will be on the sexual offenders’ register.

Officer in the case Detective Constable Duncan Sandle said: “This was a lengthy and complex investigation, involving some brilliant collaborative work between several different policing organisations, into the actions of a persistent sexual predator.

“We are continually looking to prevent such offending and protect those vulnerable children these offenders prey on. This court result reflects the harm that Marchmont has caused the two children he did contact.

“Online child sexual exploitation is a horrendous crime that sex offenders, such as Marchmont, seek to carry out behind false profiles, for their own sexual gratification. But however hard they try to hide their offending, law-enforcement agencies will leave no stone unturned to put the likes of Marchmont in prison to protect the lives of other innocent children.”

Detective Inspector David Wells from the SWROCU’s Online Investigations Team said: “Marchmont clearly posed a serious risk to children, persistently attempting to get young girls to engage in sexual activity online.

“As this case shows, law enforcement agencies are across the internet determined to ensure they don’t succeed. It is vital parents and children themselves take steps to protect against the threat.”

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A MAN has been jailed for four and a half years for sexually abusing a teenager in Bradford.

Carl Harrison, 40, of Pickles Street, Keighley, was today sentenced at Bradford Crown Court after admitting offences of sexual assault.

He was given a restraining order and must sign on the sex offender register indefinitely.

After the hearing, Detective Sergeant Matthew Harrison, of Bradford Safeguarding Unit, said: “We welcome the sentence handed down to Harrison today. 

“I would like to praise the bravery of the victim in coming forward and reporting these crimes. I hope today serves as some justice.

“Bradford Safeguarding Team would encourage anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault to come forward and report it. Your case will be treated with sensitivity and we will do all we can to bring offenders to justice.”

Description

A teenage girl kicked a paedophile in the groin when he tried to sexually assault her.

David Jervis pinned his 15-year-old victim down on his bed and attempted to force his hands down her trousers before she bravely fought back. The 63-year-old has now been convicted of subjecting a teenager to such an attack for the second time.

Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Thursday, that the pervert invited the schoolgirl to the stables where he kept his horses on several occasions as he sought to "systematically groom" her. Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, described how Jervis later offered to give her cash during a visit to his house, but she declined the money.

He then grabbed the teen by the thighs, lifted her up, carried her to a bedroom, threw her onto the bed and pinned her down. The convicted sex offender tried to put his hand down her trousers but she "bravely fought back", managing to escape after kicking him between the legs.

Afterwards, Jervis - of Birchall Street in Croft, Warrington - "carried on as if nothing had happened". He gave her a birthday card and designer clothing at one point and sought to convince her to return to his address before she reported him to the police, at which point he denied having committed the attack and said she had never been to his home.

The complainant tearfully read out a statement to the court highlighting the devastating impact his actions had upon her, saying he had "exploited her for his sexual fantasy". She added: "This has left a permanent psychological scar on my mind.

"It is something I'm coming to terms with. I believe this is something I will have to live with and work through for a long time.

"I was a 15-year-old child and could not have comprehended that anyone could be as manipulative as Jervis has been. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

"I was worried if he was not found guilty he would be able to do the same to somebody else. Hopefully this will mean he can't hurt anyone else."

Jervis has a total of 15 previous convictions for 47 offences, including being jailed for three years in 1998 for three counts of sexual assault against a teenage girl. Simeon Evans, defending, told the court that his client suffers from dementia - having claimed during his trial to have no member of the incident due to his condition - and "continues to assert his innocence".

He was found guilty of sexual assault by a jury. Jervis was jailed for five years and handed an additional three-year licence period.

Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "You compelled her to have to come to court and give evidence, to relive the ordeal and be branded a liar. I am quite satisfied you were grooming her.

"It is difficult to know where you would have gone had she not resisted. You seem entirely undeterred by what you have done.

"She has clearly been severely affected and traumatised by the experience. That latent deviancy is still in you even now, as illustrated by this offence.

"I consider you are a manipulative person who sought to exploit his condition. I do conclude that you present as a dangerous offender."

Jervis was also handed a lifelong sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely. He was given a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim for eight years.

Description

This paedophile had condoms in his suitcase after arranging to meet a 14-year-old Derbyshire boy at a hotel for sex. Derby Crown Court heard how Connor Nevison groomed the teenager online suggesting they shower and sleep naked together before travelling 136 miles to meet him.

But when the 23-year-old arrived in the car park of the Derbyshire hotel, he realised that underage Kyle was really the creation of a self-styled paedophile hunter group. The defendant has previous child sex offences including one for attempted sexual assault in a school toilet when he, himself, was around the same age as his intended victim.

Jailing Nevison for 16 months, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: “You were aware the boy was 14 and you arranged to meet him and when you went there to meet him you had condoms in your suitcase. This is a grooming offence and your criminality is in the lead-up to the offence and not what you had when you were arrested.”

Sarah Allen, prosecuting, said the offending all took place during the summer of last year. She said a paedophile hunter from Nottingham set up Kyle’s decoy account on social media and very quickly the defendant sent him a message saying “hey, how are you doing?”.

The prosecutor said the decoy messaged back asking if he knew him and Nevison replied that he was 22 years of age and wanted to be friends with him on Facebook.

Miss Allen said: “He asked Kyle how long he had known he was gay and that if he was sexually immature he would teach him what he knew about dating. He offered to meet up and over the next couple of weeks continued to chat to him online.

“He said they could go back to a hotel room and made sexual comments about him saying they could sleep nude together and shower together. The two made arrangements to meet up in Long Eaton, where Kyle said he was from, on August 10, 2022 and on August 5 the defendant booked a hotel room.

“On August 10, the defendant drove from his home in Morecambe to Long Eaton and went to the car park of the hotel and waited for Kyle to turn up. But instead, some members of the hunter group turned up and asked him what he was doing before calling the police who arrived and arrested him.”

Nevison, of Lancaster Road, Morecambe, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually communicate with a child and attempting to meet a child following grooming. His previous convictions include an attempted sexual assault from 2015 and a conviction for voyeurism from 2018.

As well as the jail terms, Judge Smith handed him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and placed him on the sex offender register for 10 years. Patrick Williamson, mitigating, said his client was suffering from mental health problems at the time of the offending last summer.

Description

A student has been jailed for distributing extreme child pornography after he messaged other offenders claiming he wanted no teens only babies.

Police said that Ethan Payne, 19, of Tollington Road, who studied microbiology and worked part-time in a bakery, was found to possess more than 900 indecent images.

An investigation uncovered that Payne interacted with other offenders online sharing experiences, fantasies and extreme pornography.

At one point, Payne is said to have spoken about sexually abusing dogs.

The teenager was jailed for four years, with an extension period of three years, on May 2 at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

He has also been issued with a ten year sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

An investigation by the Mets online child sex abuse and exploitation unit in Camden was launched after police received three separate referrals for uploads of indecent images of children on Snapchat, Instagram and Discord.

The material was uploaded from 2021 to 2022 and were linked to Ethan Payne.

Detectives obtained a warrant and on October 12, 2022, arrested Payne at his home address on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children.

Paynes laptop and mobile phone were seized during the search of his home.

Police said that the material on the devices showed Payne to be a dangerous sex offender obsessed with necrophilia, paedophilia, animal abuse, murder and torture.

On the laptop and mobile phone combined, officers found pornographic images in categories A to C, with A being the most extreme.

There were 430 Category A, 247 Category B, 125 Category C and 157 extreme pornography images.

Payne was subsequently charged with the following:

• Three counts of possession of an indecent image of a child
• Two counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image / images portraying an act of intercourse / oral sex with a dead or alive animal
• Four counts of distributing an indecent photograph / pseudo-photograph of a child
• One count of being an offender 18 or over causing / inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
• One count of encouraging/ assisting in the commission of an either way offence believing it will be committed (Serious Crime Act 2007)

He pleaded guilty to 10 of 11 charges on November 15, 2022.

One charge of possession of an extreme pornographic image was later dropped as it was considered to be a duplicate offence.

Investigating Police Constable Lydia Kelly said: There is no doubt that Payne is a danger to children and to animals.

He is focused in his depravity on the most vulnerable and the sharing of his material online has fuelled other paedophiles.

It is right that he has been jailed, his abhorrent behaviour has no place in society.

Description

A sex offender from Snodland who repeatedly abused a child over a period of almost 10 years has been jailed.

Martin Emery was convicted of a catalogue of offences, after he targeted his vulnerable victim during a series of assaults between 1997 and 2005.

Allegations of abuse were first reported to Kent Police on 18 February 2018 and Emery, who was living in Chatham at the time, was arrested the same day.

An investigation uncovered that Emery had also secretly filmed his victim, and further offences were identified after several devices were seized from his home including a hard drive and USB stick.

The devices were found to contain hundreds of indecent images of children downloaded from the internet, many of which were in the most serious category.

They also included evidence of obscene and extreme images and videos, some of which involved animals.

Trial and conviction

In June 2021, Emery appeared before Medway Magistrates‘ Court where he only admitted to four charges relating to possessing and making indecent images of children, as well as a charge of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Emery denied all the allegations of child sexual abuse but following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court was found guilty of seven counts of indecent assault, sexual assault and voyeurism.

The 64-year-old, of Birling Road, Snodland was sentenced on Wednesday 3 May, to five years’ imprisonment.

He was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Harrowing abuse

DC Wendy Tondeur, of the North Kent Vulnerability Investigation Team, said: ‘Emery had the trust of a child and exploited this trust in the worst possible way, by subjecting her to systematic and harrowing abuse. The victim was left feeling helpless and with nowhere to turn, but thankfully in recent years found the courage to come forward and help us ensure Emery has now been brought to justice.‘I would urge anyone who has been a victim of any sexual offence to remember that it is never too late to report this to police. We have a team of specialist officers who work relentlessly to ensure that offenders like Emery do not evade justice, just because a crime may have happened a long time ago. We will always treat any information with the upmost confidence and sensitivity.’

Description

A former Northamptonshire Police special constable has been jailed for two years and six months for child sex offences.

On December 1, 2021, Steven Hayden-Tift, 45, previously of Northampton, engaged in sexualised chat with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy but who was actually an undercover police officer.

During the conversation, which took place over Grindr and Snapchat, Tift sent sexual photos of himself and asked for similar photos back.

Following an investigation by Northamptonshire Police’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Unit (OCAIU), Tift was identified as the offender and arrested at his home address on December 19, 2021. 

He was subsequently charged with attempting sexual communication with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, and was found guilty by a jury following a trial at Northampton Crown Court which ended on March 18, 2023.

He returned to the same court today (May 4) where he was sentenced to two years and six months, half of which he will serve in prison.

He was also handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Detective Inspector Matt Haworth, said: “We are pleased with the outcome of today’s sentencing as it means that Steven Tift will spend time in prison as a result of our investigation.

“Tift’s position as a Special Constable placed him in a position of trust which he grossly abused when he sought to use the internet to abuse a child. Thankfully in this case, the child in question was actually a police officer and we were able to take swift action to arrest him.

“I hope this case reassures the public that we work proactively at Northamptonshire Police to bring people like Tift to justice regardless of who they are or what roles they hold.

"As an organisation, we are determined to identify those who commit wrongdoing and who are not fit to serve the public and we will be relentless in our pursuit of them.

“We will continue working hard to keep our children in Northamptonshire safe and to bring anyone who threatens that safety to justice.”

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A RAPE victim has spoken out after her attacker was convicted of rape by a crown court judge.

The woman, whose identity is protected, explained how she awoke suddenly to find Shaun Western raping her.

The victim had been on a night out with friends in Colchester in September 2018 and returned to her flat at the end of the night, but when she woke up to find she was being raped by Western, 24, who fled the flat when he had been discovered.

In a police interview, Western claimed the sex was consensual but the jury at Chelmsford Crown Court did not believe him and on Tuesday he was sentenced to six years and six months imprisonment.

In a statement read to the court, the victim said the attack had impacted hugely on “every aspect” of her life.

She said: “Since this happened, I started to suffer from night terrors.

“I never used to have issues sleeping, now when I have a night terror I start to drift off to sleep, I will jolt awake with the memory of him on top of me.

“It would make me feel breathless and panicky.”

The victim also said she has since been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, with her ability to work also majorly affected.

Officer in the case Detective Sergeant Danielle Markoutsis praised the victim for her courage.

He said: “[The victim’s strength character throughout this process has been an inspiration.

“While delays in bringing this case to trial were outside of our control, the verdict and sentence serve as a stark reminder of our clear determination to bring sex offenders to justice.

“The early advice process we have in place [with the Crown Prosecution Service] seeks to involve a lawyer in the very early stages of an investigation to agree a joint action plan with the officer in charge.

“This is helping to improve the timeliness of our investigations, leading to more solved outcomes and has now been recognised by the college of policing, which has included this as evidence of good practice for other forces to follow.”

Western will be subject to an indefinite restraining order and will remain on the sex offender's register for life.

Description

A man convicted of raping another man after leading him to a Chelmsford alleyway has been jailed for 8-and-a-half years.

In the early hours of August 9 2019, following a night out, the victim became unwell in Baddow Road when he was approached by 29-year-old Luke Bennett who offered to help him.

Bennett, of Townsend, Springfield, walked the unknown man to an alleyway off Baddow Road and raped and sexually assaulted him.

Bennett called for an ambulance, and waited with the victim, 20s, but left when the paramedics arrived.

He was arrested nearby a few hours later and subsequently charged with rape and sexual assault.

Bennett was convicted of rape and sexual assault following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court on June 22 2022 and, on Wednesday (May 3), he was sentenced to 8-and-a-half years imprisonment.

He was also made subject of a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and will be a registered sex offender indefinitely.

Detective Constable Ann-Marie Aubynn, who led the investigation, said: “We support all victims of sexual assault or rape and would encourage anyone who has been sexually assaulted to come forward and report to us so we can support you too.”