Latest Offenders

Description

A man who admitted raping a 10-year-old child after grooming her into believing they were in a legitimate relationship has been jailed for six years.

Ryan Sutton, aged 24, met the girl on the messaging app Snapchat in March 2023, sharing messages and images.

Their contact then moved onto texting, phone calls and FaceTime video chats, leading the girl to believe Sutton was her boyfriend and was in love with her.

On April 23, 2023, Sutton travelled from his home in Worcestershire to meet the girl in Finedon.

They were later found together in woodland, prompting Sutton to run off. He was later arrested while trying to leave the area by car.

An investigation was launched by the Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU) at Northamptonshire Police, amid concerns that Sutton had had sexual contact with the girl.

Condoms had been found in his bag at the time of his arrest, but the victim had not indicated any sexual abuse – it would take almost three months for her to bravely reveal to officers that Sutton had in fact raped and sexually assaulted her, disclosures which were backed up by forensic evidence.

Sutton went on to be charged with rape of a girl under 13, assault of a girl under 13 by touching, assault of a girl under 13 by penetration, engaging in sexual communication with a child, and being an adult meeting a girl under 16 following grooming.

On February 22, 2024, Sutton, of Astwood Road, Worcester, entered guilty pleas to the charges at court.

On Thursday, December 19, he appeared at Northampton Crown Court for sentencing, where he was jailed for six years, with a further year to be served on extended licence.

Sutton was also made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Description

A CONVICTED paedophile has been locked up after police found he was still looking at child sex abuse images.

Police found that Viktor Smirnovs had a mobile phone hidden in his underwear that contained vile indecent images of children.

The 39-year-old was previously given a chance with a suspended sentence, but he did not heed the warning and is now incarcerated.

He was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court, where he was assisted by a Latvian interpreter, after admitting two counts each of breaching his sexual harm prevention order and failing to comply with his sex offender register requirements.

The court heard that Smirnovs was previously handed a 15-month jail term in November 2023, but this was suspended for two years.

He admitted having a 'dark side' after being caught with hundreds of vile indecent pictures and videos, but then could not be found after returning to Latvia.

On his eventual return however, officers discovered that he had downloaded even more of the depraved material, with images and videos being in excess of 800.

He was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and told he must sign the sex offender register – with both imposed to allow police to keep tabs on him to ensure he was not offending again.

As such, the sex offender management unit from Cheshire Police called in unannounced at his Watkin Street home on September 9, explained Derek Jones, prosecuting.

Smirnovs allowed them entry and officers asked him if he had any further devices other than those that he had registers, or anything to tell them.

The defendant said that he hadn’t, but officers decided to conduct a search of the property, notably the bedroom.

At that point, officers noticed that Smirnovs appeared to be hiding something down his trousers, the court heard, with a mobile phone found to be in his underpants.

The Google Pixel phone and its hard drive had not been registered with the police before – as he is required to do by the terms of his sexual harm prevention order.

Searches of the phone revealed references to a bank account and a Gmail email account linked to the defendant.

These too had not been registered with the police, this time as required through the terms of his sex offender register requirements.

Smirnovs was interviewed by officers and answered ‘no comment’ to each question put to him.

The items seized from his address were sent for a forensic examination, with the phone revealing the presence of indecent images of children.

Of the 216 images and videos found, 29 were graded as category A – the most severe forms of child sexual abuse involving rape – while 28 were category B and 162 were category C.

The offences subsequently placed Smirnovs in breach of the suspended sentence he was given in November 2023.

Judge Anil Murray, the same judge who previously passed the suspended sentence, felt there was no reason to make it unjust for him to activate the suspended sentence, with extra time added for the new offences.

As a result, Smirnovs was sentenced to 20 months in prison, to be served immediately.

The sexual harm prevention order and his sex offender register requirements are to continue as existing from the previous sentence.

At his previous sentencing hearing, it was said that Smirnovs had ‘found it difficult facing to why he had been looking at these images, a more sinister side to his personality’.

“He clearly has a deep-rooted problem for which he needs some form of rehabilitation,” his barrister, Paul Wood, told the court.

Description

A man confronted by paedophile hunters has admitted attempting to groom a teenage girl online.

Shaun Pardon, 54, believed he was chatting to a 13-year-old, but it was in fact a decoy account set up by adults to catch and hunt down online child sex offenders.

He was confronted at his home by members of the group, with video footage of the encounter then posted online. 

Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told he had begun messaging the profile in December 2023 stating “hello gorgeous” and had continued contacting it, despite being told the girl he was talking to was supposedly aged just 13.  

Sarah Fiddy, prosecuting, said in other messages he had asked: “Do you want to play a sex game?” 

He had sent an image of his penis, despite the decoy account talking about her day at school and saying that she needed to go to bed early. 

On other occasions he asked to see her naked.

Pardon, of Kingfisher Road in Sprowston, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child over a two week period between December 31, 2023 and January 19, 2024.

He also admitted possession of cannabis.

The footage of him being confronted by members of the online group sees him stating: “I’m only talking to that one. I talk to her now and again.” 

He denied knowing the age of the girl despite being confronted with evidence of various chats in which she talked about school, after-school clubs and made other references that made it clear just how young she supposedly was. 

Deputy District Judge Charlotte Hart ordered a pre-sentence report to consider all options including immediate custody. 

She told him: “I do not rule out committing you to the crown court to be sentenced but that is not my starting point. There is a very strong likelihood you will have to sign the sex offenders register.”  

He will be sentenced on February 20.

Description

An “emotionally-manipulative” sex predator, considered “highly dangerous” to young girls, particularly those using Snapchat, has been jailed for 20 years.

Mark Dodds, 38, received the extended sentence, of which he must serve at least two-thirds, after being convicted of a total of 60 offences involving ten girls, mostly in the UK, but some in the US.

It involved him grooming and then soliciting indecent images of the victims, who were mostly aged 12 to 13, but in one case was as young as nine.

He persuaded them to send him images of them performing sex acts on themselves, before threatening to distribute them to friends and family members unless further, more explicit photos, were sent to him.

The Crown Prosecution Service said, after the hearing, that over a ten-year period, Dodds used Snapchat - a messaging app - to incite numerous girls into carrying out sexual acts over live video calls and described Dodds as "a prolific sexual predator".

Newcastle Crown Court heard that when the victims failed to comply with his requests for more images, he followed up his threat to disclose them to family members and/or a circle of their friends.

He refused to curtail his activities despite an online confrontation with the mother of one victim, who he berated for swearing, while in another case he carried on his conduct despite being told the victim was feeling low after the death of her father.

The court heard he used pseudonyms online, making the young girls believe they were communication with teenage boys and in one case another teenage girl, using images obtained from another victim.

His offending was said to have had a profound psychological effect on his victims, one of whom stopped attending school out of shame, while others were left a pale shadow of their former selves.

Dodds, of Heather Grove, Spennymoor, was initially arrested in 2020 for activities dating back to about 2015, but, released “under investigation”, he continued a similar pattern of offending until police visited him again in November 2023, when his electronic devices were seen to be displaying indecent images of children.

Paul Cleasby, prosecuting, said Dodds struggled violently trying to prevent officers seizing his electronic devices and gaining access to his property.

He was subdued and several devices were seized.

But Mr Cleasby said the investigation was hampered and became protracted as the defendant refused to disclose passwords and then PIN numbers to some of the devices, prolonging inquiries before access was gained.

It revealed more evidence of serious online sexual abuse and blackmail of children in 2022 up to November 2023.

Investigators found that he organised the images and footage secured during his offending into folders bearing the names of the girls involved.

The defendant admitted most charges at a plea hearing in March last year, having indicated likely guilty pleas when he appeared before magistrates.

But he was found guilty of six counts, including five of sexual assault and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, following a trial at Durham Crown Court, in October.

Following preparation of psychological and background probation reports on the defendant, he appeared before trial judge, Recorder Tom Moran, for sentence today (Monday January 6).

Andrew Stranex, representing Dodds, told the court the defendant was aware he was facing a lengthy custodial sentence.

“He did accept substantially what the Crown alleged against him.

“What’s going to follow is a substantial custodial sentence which will punish him and ensure the public is protected from him during the period of incarceration.

“An important element of that will allow him to work, if he chooses to, to address the behaviour that brings him before the court.

“Whether he addresses what emerges out of this is a matter for him.”

Recorder Moran said the defendant was guilty of, “outrageous conduct” against children and displayed, “breathtaking arrogance”, in response to requests to desist his activities by his victims and members of their families.

He told Dodds he used “cunning and planning” to carry out his “controlling and emotionally manipulative” activities, but said he came across in his probation report as a “self-obsessed, self-pitying individual.”

The Recorder said the probation report author considered the defendant to pose, “a high risk of serious harm to children.”

He told Dodds: “I’m satisfied you are not just dangerous, you are highly dangerous.

“The risk includes direct contact offences and offences you may commit online.”

Recorder Moran told Dodds he must serve at least two-thirds of the 20-year total sentence and he will then be subject to six years’ extended licence period.

Dodds was also made subject of restrictions under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and registration as a sex offender, both for life.

A lifelong restraining order prohibits him from contacting or approaching the victim of his sexual assaults.

As he was being led from the dock to the court cells, the defendant was heard to shout: “Absolute f***ing joke, I didn’t do anything.”

Speaking after the hearing, Debbie Breen, head of the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RaSSO) unit at the Crown Prosecution Service North East, said over a ten-year period, Dodds used Snapchat to incite numerous girls, aged between eight and 15, into carrying out sexual acts over live video calls.

He then used covert recordings of these calls as leverage, blackmailing his victims into further acts by threatening to distribute the videos further if they failed to comply with his requests. 

When arrested, Dodds was also found to have amassed thousands of indecent images, which were recovered from multiple devices found at his home.

Ms Breen said: “Mark Dodds is a prolific sexual predator, who routinely manipulated young girls online for his own sexual gratification.

“Dodds spared little thought for the effect that his emotional and physical abuse would have on his victims, callously exploiting their fear and shame to compel them into repeated sexual acts.

“I would like to recognise the incredible bravery of the young victims involved in this case.

“Despite the significant abuse they have endured, the evidence they provided has greatly assisted the Crown Prosecution Service in building a very robust case against Dodds. 

“Each of them has played a part in bringing a prolific sexual predator to justice and we sincerely hope that their contribution to his significant sentence today can bring them a good measure of comfort.”

Description

A Worcestershire man who tried to facilitate sexual activity with a child was today (Monday 6 January) sentenced to 32 months at court and handed a lifetime sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Julian Davis, 62, from Stourport-on-Severn, was arrested on December 4, 2024, following an operation by officers from West Mercia Police’s Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team (OCSET).

Officers who arrested Davis at a location in Worcester found items in his vehicle such as cable ties, handcuffs, a whip, lubricant, amphetamine drugs, Viagra and baby wipes, as well as mobile phones which were seized and downloaded.

Davis was interviewed then charged on December 5 before he was bailed on December 6 with conditions including not to contact directly or indirectly anyone under the age of 18, ahead of today’s appearance at Worcester Crown Court.

He was found guilty of being an adult attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, possession of a controlled drug of Class B – amphetamine and arranging / facilitating commission of an offence of sexual activity with child/cause/incite child to engage in penetration.

Davis was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment, given a lifetime SHPO and ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely, as well as to pay £150 costs.

Detective Constable Richard Britton, of West Mercia’s OCSET, said: “We carried out this operation on December 4 targeting Davis following intelligence work he was attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child.

“What we found in his car was alarming and showed his sickening intentions. Fortunately, on this occasion we were able to stop an offender before they could abuse a child.

“We were glad to get charges brought against Davis and this prison sentence imposed today. Upon his release, he will remain subject to a lifetime sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.”

Description

A child sex offender left one of victims terrified after following her on social media just days after getting out of prison.

Leslie Crossan was locked up for 12 years in 2018 after being convicted of a series of offences of sexual assault of a child and sexual activity with a child in relation to four victims under the age of 16. As part of his sentence, he was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order banning him from contacting any of the victims.

Having served half of his sentence, the 64-year-old, of Kearsley Close, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, was released from custody on licence on November 14 last year. Shortly after that, he reactivated one of his social media accounts.

On November 28, one of his victims looked at her phone and was horrified to see a notification telling her Crossan had followed her. David Robinson-Young, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "She was shocked and panicked as a result of seeing the notification."

The victim said: "I fear he will make further attempts to contact me. I'm truly scared of this man and what he will do. He has only been out of prison three weeks and has already intimidated me."

Crossan was arrested and when his phone was examined it showed searches had been made for the victim and he had sent a message saying he was going to try to contact her. He pleaded guilty to breaching the sexual harm prevention order.

Mr Robinson-Young said: "This was a deliberate breach which caused her serious distress. It happened only two weeks after being released from prison."

The court heard Crossan has been recalled to prison to serve out the rest of his 12 year sentence. For the new offence, he was jailed for 15 months.

Assistant Judge Advocate General Edward Legard told him: "That must have been extremely unnerving and distressing for her. She was clearly shocked and panicked by what she had seen and read."

Nigel Hedley, defending, said "there was no malice" in Crossan's actions, adding: "He is truly apologetic. It's very possible he will remain in custody for the next six years on recall."

Description

A prolific offender found in possession of 90,000 images of child sexual abuse has been jailed for a decade. Daniel Tunney pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children and breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

An investigation was launched by Cheshire Police in September last year after they received intelligence that Tunney had been engaging with indecent images of children online. As a result, officers from the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team conducted a search at his home.

As part of his sex offender registration conditions, Tunney is required to notify police of any digital devices he owns or has access to. During the search of his address, Tunney was arrested, and officers seized three unregistered digital devices - a mobile phone, a hard drive, and a memory card.

Following a digital forensic analysis of his devices, officers discovered Tunney was in possession of thousands of images and videos displaying child abuse, these included at least 603 category A images, 240 category A videos, 735 category B images, 40 category B videos, 46,045 category C images, and 13 category C videos.

He was also found in possession of 104 images and 36 videos of extreme pornography. A further 72,659 images and videos remain uncategorised.

Tunney, 42, of Manor Way, Crewe, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 3 January where he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

When interviewed, Tunney answered “no comment” to all questions, but was charged with the offences regardless due to the amount of evidence gathered against him. Tunney was left with no choice but to plead guilty.

Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Nathanael Johnston, said: “Tunney is a prolific sex offender who posed a significant risk to children. During our investigation, we found that he was in possession of more than 90,000 indecent images of child sexual abuse. Through the work of our officers, we were able to quickly bring him to justice and he is now facing the consequences of his actions behind bars.”

Detective Constable Meg Griffithes, of the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “It is important to note that these crimes are not victimless, and as this case demonstrates, we are committed to pursuing and bringing to justice those who engage in online child sexual exploitation and play a part in the sexual abuse of children in Cheshire and beyond."

Description

Pervert in paedo pride boast says five callous words as 'horrific' diary read to court

A court heard that Gerrard Charnley was found in possession of so much child abuse material that police struggled to identify it all after it was recovered from his home in Widnes

A pervert who boasted about being a "proud paedophile" uttered five words of callous acknowledgement after sick passages from his diary were read out in court.

Police struggled to quantify the extreme amount of child abuse content collected by Gerrard Charnley, 52, who trawled the dark web in search for pictures and videos. Charnley, of Coronation Drive in Widnes, developed a "compulsive obsession" with the material and downloaded hundreds of thousands of indecent images and videos.

He documented his desires in sickening detail in a personal journal titled "my paedophile diary", in which he named girls he wanted to "rape some day". And when sentenced by a judge presiding over his trial for his possession of the abuse material, the offender issued a five-word statement of admission.

The Liverpool ECHO reports that Liverpool Crown Court heard Charnley collected 15,081 pictures and 2,308 videos graded as category A, meaning they showed the most serious forms of abuse, including babies being raped. Charnley was also found to have downloaded a further 17,383 category B images and 169,968 category C images.

He also had in his possession nine computer generated prohibited images of children, and an additional nine extreme pornographic images. Police were unable to categorise an additional 230,000 images due to the sheer volume of material on his devices. Prosecutor Sarah Holt said he documented the images in his journal "My Paedophile Diary".

She told the court the document "contained references to specific dates and what the defendant wanted to do to particular children", with one entry from June 2016 naming one girl he wanted to "rape some day very soon". He added in the entry: "I'm proud to say this as a paedophile."

Among other entries in the diary were a list of his favourite websites for viewing child abuse content, and a list entitled "preteen s**gs I'd love to rape". Charnley admitted possession of indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children, possession of extreme pornographic images and possession of a paedophile manual.

He was jailed for 14 months on Thursday, January 2, handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and told to sign the sex offenders' register for the next decade. Nodding as he left the dock, having been told he would go to prison, he said: "I'm guilty. I'm sorry, ok." Sentencing Charnley, honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said the content he accessed was "truly shocking".

He told the court: "There were so many images, something approaching half a million, recovered from your devices. I am told that there are 232,000 images which remain uncategorised, such was the sheer scale of the task. It is safe to say that your collection of images was enormous by any standard.

You appear to have been keeping a diary of the sorts of things you would like to do to children. They are horrific. They may well be you playing out your fantasies in writing, but they demonstrate the depraved, perverted nature of your desires and your reason for accessing all of this material.

"This written material demonstrates clearly that yours was not an idle obsession, but one where you were fixated on the abuse of children. It is trite to observe that while you yourself did not generate these images, your accessing of them and collecting of them develops a market for this sort of material.

"It is trite to observe that while you yourself did not generate these images, your accessing of them and collecting of them develops a market for this sort of material." The judge concluded: "I am satisfied that only an immediate term of imprisonment is appropriate to deal with offending of the scale and type described in this case where you have quite deliberately, over many years, sought out and collected a huge quantity of appalling material.

"Alongside that you have generated your own material, demonstrating that you have a clear desire to participate in the abuse of these children."

Description

A man who raped a 13-year-old child after manipulating the victim into drinking excessive amounts of alcohol has been jailed for 14 years.

Andrew Mackay, 64, from High Spen, Gateshead, attacked the child after the victim passed out as a result of too much alcohol, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The victim said they had tried to take their own life after the assault, and would "never forgive" Mackay.

Mackay, who had denied any wrongdoing, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sexual assault.

Judge Sarah Mallett said Mackay had been "grooming" the child with alcohol, and at the time of the rape had given the victim so much to drink they were unable to fully recollect what had happened.

In a statement read to the court, the child said they felt sick thinking about the abuse and relived it on a daily basis.

The victim said Mackay had ruined a "normal" teenage life, adding: "I will never be able to look back and think of my teenage years as the best years of my life like most others."

Mackay, of Bute Drive, must also sign the Sex Offender Register for life, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A sex offender has been hounded out of Stoke-on-Trent. Warren Potts has now started a new life in Cambridgeshire after leaving The Potteries.

It comes after the 52-year-old's past - when he was jailed for 15 years in 2011 for a string of serious sexual offences - became known in the Stoke-on-Trent community where he lived. It followed Potts failing to inform police that he had gone on holiday to Spain and not registering his new passport within three days of receiving it.

Now Potts - who is on the Sex Offenders' Register for life - has pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to comply with his notification requirements. He has been handed an 18-month community order with a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a £249 court bill.

North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard police were informed that Potts had travelled to Alicante in September.

Prosecutor Suzanne Swindail said: "The information was checked with passport officers and he was issued with a passport on July 18. On September 13 he travelled to Alicante from Birmingham. He had not registered his passport within three days of receiving it. He had not notified the police of travel. He must notify them at least seven days before leaving the country."

In his police interview Potts said failing to register the passport was a mistake. He had it for two months and forgot to register it.

Karen Wright, mitigating, said Potts and his partner went on holiday to celebrate his birthday. The couple hope to marry next month and Potts cares for his partner.

Miss Wright added: "On his return he was made aware he should have notified the police. He and his partner have moved to Cambridgeshire. When these issues came to light the neighbours got hold of it and they were put under horrendous scrutiny. They were harassed and had an awful lot of issues."

Description

A pervert who sent a photograph of his genitals to a teenage girl has been locked up for his sickening behaviour.

Lewis Hart also sent sexualised images to his landlord six months later during a campaign of harassment while he was on police bail.

The 36-year-old sent several messages to the woman telling her that he found her attractive, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Jon Harley, prosecuting, said Hart told the teenager that he wanted to ‘get it out of his system’ when he sent her the sexually explicit images last May.

He said the defendant sent a WhatsApp message to the woman while he was intoxicated and the harassment had left the victim feeling physically sick.

Hart, of Blackmore Close, Guisborough, pleaded guilty to sending sexual communication to a child, sent a photograph or video to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, and cause harassment without violence.

John Nixon, mitigating, said the father had become ‘low and desperate’ when he committed the offences.

“It doesn’t excuse what happened but does show that it was out of character and is something that he bitterly regrets indeed,” he added.

“There is a very good prospect of rehabilitation and little likelihood of further offences being committed. He still plays a role in the life of his biological children and there is hope for the future.”

Judge Timothy Stead jailed Hart for a total of 16 months.

He said: “It is understood that you and your family had been having a difficult time and your own mental health has not always been good.

“The difficulty in this case lies in the most serious offence in this case, sexual communication with a child, is an offence committed against a 14-year-old.

“You sent six images to her and are undoubtedly of a sexual nature and most people would find them troubling and disgusting.”

Hart was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and was made subject of a ten-year restraining order.

Description

A 'twisted' English teacher who admitted receiving a sex act from a 16-year-old student in a cupboard at school after class was spared jail today.

David Howard, 47, wooed the teenager with a Valentine's Day card and a love letter declaring he was 'besotted' with his victim, who branded him a 'predator' today.

Howard joked that they could get caught by the cleaner when they secretly met in the cupboard at the end of the school day, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

He sent her cards, letters, mini-discs and books, including a paperback by notorious sexual libertine and sex criminal Marquis de Sade. They also met out of school and spent long periods speaking on the phone.

'I fear I have become besotted by you', he told her. 

The court heard that he was single, then aged 24, and in his first teaching job at Crown Woods School, Eltham - since renamed Leigh Stationers Academy. 

Howard, of Lewes, now married with a child, pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in sexual activity, while in a position of trust, in 2002.

He was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months, plus thirty days of a Probation Service-ordered rehabilitation activity requirement and must sign the sex offenders register for seven years.

He was seen in the company of the girl, then 16 and still wearing her uniform, in the Blackheath area of south-east London.

She told the court she later reported him to the deputy headmaster and another teacher at the time, but nothing happened.

Prosecutor Matthew Dalton said the now 38-year-old victim first reported Howard - who quit teaching for the legal profession - in 2021 and gave a video-recorded statement to police on August 27 that year.

'I received a Valentine's Day card when I was sixteen years-old,' she told officers.

The card was posted to her family home and was followed by a hand-written A4 letter in which Howard wrote: 'I fear I have become besotted by you.'

'The author was her teacher, who also got on the same train as her when she travelled to school,' said Mr Dalton. 

'They also spent time together outside school.'

The victim told police she performed a sex act on him in a cupboard 'at the end of the corridor, on the top floor.'

She spent so long on the house phone with Howard her mother asked: 'Who are all these calls to,' and said: 'That's the big phone bill.'

She also once visited Howard's flat, but there is no suggestion any sexual activity took place there.

Over ten years later, in 2013 she sent him a letter saying she was now aware he 'groomed and abused' her, but Howard did not reply.

Judge Charlotte Welsh told Howard: 'You chose to use that girl to make you feel better, which was an extremely cruel thing to do. She was not equipped to deal with your sexual advances.

'It was highly selfish behaviour, a twisted immoral attempt at courtship that was criminal.

'I accept your remorse is genuine, but that is cold comfort to the victim. There is a genuine prospect of rehabilitation and I accept your understanding that what you did was so wrong.' 

The victim attended the hearing and read aloud her impact statement, a few metres from Howard. 

'Predators like him are able to identify vulnerable children like me,' she said.

'The grooming was so powerful that for a decade I was convinced it was a consenting relationship.

'What happened was a badly kept secret. The Deputy Head saw us together, I told another teacher and they did nothing, allowing him to continue to sexually abuse me.'

'I was anxious, agoraphobic, isolated and afraid and fearful in public,' she told the packed courtroom.

'I have nightmares of David Howard chasing and attacking me.

'I have been driven to pour boiling water on my wrists to reduce stress and moved to a home near a railway level crossing, with the intention of ending my life.

'I hope all the teachers feel one tenth of my guilt and shame for not reporting. He told me he was in a relationship with another pupil and I believe he abused others.'

Mr Dalton added: 'Howard was flirty with her in the classroom and she describes him as popular and as the "cool teacher" and he would have been twenty-four years-old at the time.

'She says that she had a crush on him and would lie to her parents about where she was when she was with Howard.'

The victim recalled the light-hearted way Howard dealt with the stock cupboard act. 'There was a joke about getting caught by the cleaner as it was the end of the school day.'

Howard's lawyer James Martin told the court his client is now seeing a counsellor, but Judge Welsh noted this only began when he was arrested.

'This was many, many years ago and you are passing sentence on someone who is a different human being,' said the lawyer.

'He is now married with a child and this was his first job and he was immature and teaching children not much younger than himself.

'He accepts it was morally unacceptable and was not aware it was criminal and does not accept that he groomed her.

'What took place in the cupboard was slightly before her exams and it was never a full sexual relationship, just that one off incident in the cupboard as distressing as that may be.

'There were very personal circumstances at the time that I would rather not get into in open court,' said Mr Martin. 'He has dealt with a substantial amount of residual guilt for what he has done.

'Some time ago he wrote a letter of remorse and apology to the victim and that letter is in the hands of the Crown Prosecution Service and available if she wants to read it.

'He will have to find a new career now and at his age that in itself is a significant punishment. He moved away from the teaching profession to engage in the world of law.'

Judge Welsh told first-time offender Howard: 'By its nature it was abusive at all times. You sent her a Valentine's Day card and told her you were besotted.

'You spent time together outside of the school, not even surreptitiously and others knew what was going on.

'It took her many years to understand that what you did to her was abuse and I cannot give justice as to how it has impacted her life.

'The people who should have stepped in to stop what was going on did nothing and she is still plainly suffering anxiety and clearly not managing it.

'You tell me you saw your involvement as a genuine relationship, but it was a warped view given that she was a schoolgirl and you were a schoolteacher.

'I am told you acknowledge this now and are disgusted by what you did then.'

The Judge ruled Howard's behaviour did not amount to grooming, adding: 'It must have been a stressful environment in a large London comprehensive and you had a crisis of confidence and mental health difficulties.

'You quit teaching as you were unable to cope'.

Description

A 32-year-old “prowler” sexually assaulted three schoolgirls and exposed himself to other groups of people during a short spell of offending in Derby city centre.

Derby Crown Court heard how Muftah Mohammed walked up to each of his three young victims and grabbed their backsides or breasts before moving on.

The defendant, who lives in the city centre, walked into a bank and dropped his trousers exposing himself to the staff and customers there. Now he has been jailed for his “disgusting” offending but is likely to be back on the streets within days as he has served most of that time in jail on remand.

Jailing him for 15 months, Recorder Mary Prior KC said: “None of your victims should have been subjected to any kind of sexual assault in the middle of the day in Derby city centre. Each of them was left suffering upset and distress and will have been impacted in their ability to do what young 16-year-old girls should be able to do, which is to walk around without fear of being attacked by a complete stranger.”

Steve Gosnell, prosecuting, said all of the incidents took place on the afternoon of May 24 when the city centre was busy with shoppers. He said Mohammed first walked into the foyer of a bank on east Street, dropped his trousers and exposed himself to the workers and customers in there before walking out.

The prosecutor said: “This was prowling behaviour if I can put it that way. This is not a case where he was standing in a doorway waiting for people, he was approaching groups. He walked around the city centre and cathedral area approaching groups of people including school girls in their uniforms.

“He slapped one 16-year-old to her bum and said to her ‘touch my ****’ then moved on. He approached a second 16-year-old, walked straight up to her and grabbed her left breast and then walked away.

“He then headed straight to a third group of schoolgirls, approached another 16-year-old, stroked his hand across her breasts and tried to pull at her shirt.

“After that he exposed himself to the group and said ‘have a look at this, do you want some?’.” Mr Gosnell said none of the three girls he touched wanted to give victim impact statements but members of the group of girls he exposed himself to said they felt “disgusted and discomforted” by what they saw.

Mohammed, of Chapel Street, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecent exposure. He has 11 previous court appearances for 22 offences, but nothing of a sexual nature and was assisted at this week’s hearing by a North African Arabic interpreter.

Lesley Pidcock, mitigating, said her client had been drinking alcohol and taking drugs on the day of the offences and has mental health issues. She said: “He is sorry, he is remorseful and he does regret his actions.

“Let’s put it plainly, it was not normal behaviour in inverted commas, and it is clear he has not behaved in this way before.”

As well as the jail term, the judge ordered the defendant to sign on the sex offender register for 10 years and handed him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. As he has already served the equivalent of a 14-month sentence on remand, Mohammed is likely to be released in the next month where he will serve the remainder of the sentence on licence in the UK due to his immigration status.

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A father had a so-called "paedophile manual" which contained a detailed step-by-step guide on how to find, groom, and have sex with children from the age of two, a court has heard.

One of the tips in the 170-page book for men who want access to children is to target single mothers who "lack self-confidence" and would welcome a new relationship.

Swansea Crown Court heard Jason Church was also found to have downloaded more than 39,000 pictures and videos of children and babies as young as two months old being sexually abused. Sending the 40-year-old to prison a judge said he was of the view that the defendant posed "a risk and a danger to children".

Ashanti-Jade Walton, prosecuting, told the court that at at 7.15am on August 23, 2023, police officers and forensic investigators executed a search warrant at the defendant's family home in Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire in response to intelligence which showed that indecent images had been downloaded by a device linked to the property. She said the officers explained the purpose of their visit to Church and he told them the material they were looking for was on his device. An initial examination of a Samsung phone showed the presence of indecent images and the defendant was arrested and taken into custody. The court heard that a welfare check was then carried out on the defendant's wife as she was noted to be "in shock" at what had happened.

The prosecutor said a detailed examination of the seized phone and its SD memory card revealed more than 39,000 pictures and film clips of children being sexually abused including 2,688 Category A images showing the most serious kinds of abuse. The court heard some of the images showed the attempted rape of a baby girl aged between two and four months.

Miss Walton said investigators also uncovered a 170-page book stored on the phone called How to Practice Child Love which gave detailed step-by-step advice and instructions on how adults can find, groom, and have sex with children from the age of two years upwards. The court heard how the book said "there were no good arguments" against adults having sex with children and it boasted that it was based on "advanced child psychology and research". The court heard that among the tips the book offered men wanting to find children for sex was to get a pet, as "you will be a kid magnet", and to target single mothers who "suffer from a lack of self-confidence" and are desperate for a relationship.

In his police interview the defendant accepted downloading indecent images.

Jason Rhydian Church, now of Llangrannog, Llandysul, Ceredigion, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of indecent images and to possession of a "paedophile manual" – contrary to s69 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 – when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Regan Walters, for Church, said the defendant had cooperated with police who came to his address and had already sought help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity which works to prevent child sexual abuse. He said the defendant knew he should not have been searching for and downloading the kind of material found on his device and said it was unfortunate that he "chose to bypass that understanding". The barrister said that while in no way intended to be an excuse for Church's behaviour his client had been suffering from depression since 2019 something which "informed his consumption of alcohol" – a situation which spiralled during the Covid pandemic. He added that as a result of his offending his client had lost his managerial job with a timber frame business, which had been a "devastating loss" for him.

Judge Huw Rees said viewing material of the kind found on Church's phone would be a "harrowing experience for right-thinking people" but for the defendant was "a source of a base, crude sexual preoccupation". The judge said the children shown in the images on Church's device were real children being sexually abused and exploited "to satisfy the degenerate and lustful demands" of people like the defendant and he said in his view Church posed "a risk and a danger to children".

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Church was sentenced to 22 months in prison comprising 16 months for possession of indecent images and six months for possession of the paedophile manual to run consecutively. The defendant will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Church will be a registered sex offender for 10 years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

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Kent Police has a team of officers dedicated to checking the conduct of registered sex offenders, to ensure they are complying with any conditions imposed by a court following a conviction.

Paul Webster was issued with a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) following his conviction on 1 September 2017 at Maidstone Crown Court, for making indecent images of children.

The SHPO had several prohibitions around his use of the internet, alongside a requirement to allow officers to inspect his computers and other devices.

Inspection 

On Wednesday 14 February 2024, two officers visited Webster’s home and asked him to present any phones or computers in his possession for inspection. He gave the constables a phone that was not enabled for the internet and claimed he had no other devices.

A search of the premises found two internet enabled phones, one under a pillow, 11 USB sticks and an SD card. One of the phones contained indecent images of children including some in the most serious category, and a browser that did not retain internet history.

Webster’s actions were evidence of multiple breaches of his SHPO. Officers also found he had acquired a bank card without notifying the police, in contravention of his sex offender notification requirements.

Investigators charged Webster, of Railway Street, Chatham, with making indecent images of a child, failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

Sentenced

Webster pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and, on Friday 20 December 2024, the 56 year old was jailed for three years and nine months.