Latest Offenders

Description

A sadistic thug viciously raped one woman in a horrific attack and tied up another woman with tape before threatening to kill her. He left one of his victims unconscious after he stamped on her head and neck.

John Harding, 30, of Newport, committed brutal attacks upon his two victims which left them fearing for their lives. The defendant has a long history of violence committed against women.

A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard the first victim was attacked by Harding who threw her to the ground and stood on her head, which caused her to scream in pain. He then dragged her along the floor and kicked and punched her to the side of her head. The defendant then grabbed her throat and put his fist to her head.

Recounting the facts of the assault Judge Jeremy Jenkins said: "In an act bordering on sadistic you bent down close to her face and told her she was not scared enough. She must have been scared out of her wits."

Harding later twice raped the victim and ignored the victim's shouts for him to stop. He also used his fingers to penetrate her, which caused her "extreme pain". He then performed a sex act in a "final act of degradation", the court heard.

The second victim was just a teenager when she was assaulted by Harding who was said to have treated her with "disdain and cruelty". During the first attack he threw her to the ground, kicked and stood on her head, and strangled her until she lost consciousness.

When she came round she saw the defendant on top of her and he was hitting her chest to get her to breathe again. He then threw her to the floor a second time and kicked her. Over the next few days the victim suffered increasing swelling and bruising to her head and discovered she had broken ribs.

During the second attack upon the victim Harding took tape from a rucksack and used it to tie her up. The more she struggled the tighter the tape became. Two men passed nearby and the defendant threatened to kill the victim and the men if she screamed out. He then produced a pair of scissors and held the blade to her throat in what was described by Judge Jenkins as a "terrifying incident".

Following his arrests Harding, of Corporation Road, denied the offences but was found guilty of two counts of rape, assault by penetration, two counts of intentional strangulation, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of false imprisonment, and making threats to kill. After the trial the defendant wrote a letter to the first victim from prison, which caused her great distress.

The court heard he has seven previous convictions including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, battery, and witness intimidation committed against women. One of these occasions he put his foot on the victim's neck and threatened to "smash her head in" with a weight.

Reading out her victim personal statement via videolink the first victim said: "Every day I have to battle demons in my head which tell me to stay in bed. I have to go back to PTSD attacks. I not only see events, I feel the same emotions of being in fear for my life and feeling completely helpless."

The victim said she was suffering from flashbacks and when she leaves the house she feels overwhelmed by anxiety. She added: "I feel as though I have the word 'victim' written on my face and when I leave the house or when someone looks at me I feel they know what has happened to me. It's dehumanising....

"If you could imagine going through the worst moment of your life and having no input in how it's dealt with. That's what I go through every day... I can't put into words how this has made me feel, I don't know myself. [It has] torn scars in my soul that will last forever and even God can't heal. I have to be the final girl. If me doing this can save someone's life I'll do it 10 times over."

In mitigation Kevin Seal said his client "needs help" in custody in order to change his attitude towards women and the way he manages his problems and his life in general. He said the defendant will "need to become a completely different person" if he wished to have contact with his child.

Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said: "These two brave young complainants have given evidence of a most frightening experience in which each suffered at your hands with a degree of violent and sexual degradation. This is deeply concerning the more so when one considers your antecedent history...

"This simply cannot be ignored. You are a danger to young women. I will go further and say with confidence that in your company no young lady is truly safe. You pose a significant risk of harm to members of the public."

Harding was sentenced to a total of 15 years imprisonment with an extended licence period of five years. He will serve at least two-thirds of the custodial sentence before he will be considered for parole. The defendant was also made subject to two restraining orders and sex offender notification requirements indefinitely.

Description

A man has been jailed after being caught with almost 400 illegal images of children on a mobile phone.

Carl Webb, formerly of Gloucester Road in Cheltenham, admitted making 240 Category C indecent images of children, 144 prohibited images, and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

He also admitted failing to report to a police station and being in breach of a suspended prison sentence.

The 37-year-old was jailed for three years and three months on 14 March.

Webb, who has a history of child sex offences dating back more than two decades, was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court.

He was convicted of indecently assaulting a child in 2002 and was jailed for sexual activity with a child in 2009.

Prosecutor Alec Small said that on 28 September 2022 police visited Webb at his home to check he was complying with his sexual harm prevention order.

He volunteered that he had a borrowed phone that he had not previously declared.

The phone was seized by officers and was found to contain indecent images of children.

Mr Small added that Webb had failed to attend a police station to sign the sex offender register on 1 March 2023.

Webb is currently serving a three-year jail term imposed on him in October 2023 after he breached a community order he had received at an earlier hearing.

Defending, Catherine Spedding, said Webb is "keen to look at the root cause of his offending" by taking part in a sex offender programme.

She added: "Once he is sentenced, he hopes to be moved to a prison where he can undertake that positive and useful course. "He is looking forward to that because he wants to cease this sort of offending." Webb was also given a new sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A 69-YEAR-OLD man received a two-year prison term, suspended for two years, for possessing hundreds of indecent images and videos of children.

Peter Minchim was arrested at his home in Beeches Park, Hampton Fields, near Minchinhampton, after Gloucestershire Police received information from the National Crime Agency that indecent images from his address had been detected.

Prosecutor Ehsanul Oarith told Gloucester Crown Court on Friday, March 15, that his computer was seized and 369 indecent images and two videos of children in the most serious Category A were found.  

There were also 286 Category B images and 687 Category C images and one video.

Additionally, a prohibited image and 12 images of extreme pornography were found. 

The prosecutor explained that the youngest child portrayed was six months old. 

Catherine Spedding, defending, said: “A full pre-sentence report has been carried out and Minchim has submitted two references to the court.

"He is supported in court by Alison Huntley, an NHS support worker for the criminal justice system, who has been involved since his arrest."

Ms Huntley told the court: “Minchim has shown significant remorse for this offence and has contacted the specialist organisation ‘Stop It Now’ to get help and support. 

“Because of this offence, his marriage is now over.

"A sentence in the community would be far more beneficial instead of a prison term to allow Minchim to get the help he needs."

Minchim admitted three counts of possessing a total of 1,345 indecent images and videos of children in categories A, B and C, one prohibited image and 12 extreme pornography images between January 31 and August 31 last year.

As well as the suspended sentence, Minchim was ordered to pay £425 in costs, must complete 100 hours of unpaid work and attend 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days. 

Minchim has also been subjected to the terms of a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration for the same time period. 

Judge Recorder Tom Brown said: “These images are disturbing from their descriptions and involve children as young as six months. 

“I accept that you took steps to address your offending, which demonstrates there is a prospect of rehabilitation.

"I am satisfied that you are ashamed by your actions."

Description

A young pervert from Angus caught with child abuse videos categorised as the most graphic kind has been handed an alternative to custody.

Carnoustie paedophile Ruari Patterson was told his behaviour was “harmful” when he was placed under supervision at a sentencing hearing this week.

Description

A sex offender has appeared in court again and admitted sharing indecent images of children on social media.

Police raided John Daly’s home in Thanet after the disturbing clips were retweeted from an account on X – formerly known as Twitter – connected to his address.

When officers searched the 58-year-old’s home they found category B and C images on his phone, as well as a prohibited image of children.

Daly, of Manston Road, Ramsgate, was later charged with two counts of distributing indecent photographs, two counts of downloading indecent images and one count of being in possession of a prohibited image of a child.

He admitted all of the offences when he appeared before magistrates in Folkestone on March 12.

The court heard when police searched Daly’s home they found he had shared a category B image online on May 16 last year, and had also shared 24 category C images between May 7 and May 22.

A total of 125 indecent images – five category B and 126 category C – had also been downloaded on May 30, and Daly was also found to be in possession of the prohibited image.

Rajni Prashar prosecuting said: “He’s a registered sex offender and has previous convictions for indecent images.

“The indecent images were on Twitter (now X) and were in a direct message but had been retweeted as videos by this account, and the address connected to it matched him.

“The images were found on his mobile phone and he also had a prohibited image of children which showed children in bikinis and swimsuits, and he had used a public Twitter account.

“He was convicted of having indecent images in 2010 and 2014 and he also failed to comply with notification requirements [as a sex offender] in 2022.”

Magistrates decided the offences were so serious they sent Daly’s case to Canterbury Crown Court for sentencing.

He was granted bail until the hearing – a date for which has yet to be set.

Description

A York paedophile has been jailed for seven years for sexually abusing a young girl whose life had been completely ripped apart by his predatory behaviour.

John Patrick Steenson, 60, from Jewbury, subjected his victim to acts which had a devastating and lifelong effect on her, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Jeremy Hill-Baker said that Steenson had repeatedly abused the youngster by forcing her to perform sex acts on him at a property in York.

When the victim first made allegations about Steenson in 2003, it was not followed up because it was thought she was “too young to give any evidence”.

It took the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, another 17 years to come forward to police again, but when Steenson was brought in for questioning, he vehemently denied the allegations.

He was charged with two counts of gross indecency with a child but pleaded not guilty, which meant the victim had to endure the ordeal of a trial.

A jury found Steenson guilty on both counts and he appeared for sentence yesterday (Thursday, 14 March) knowing his fate was sealed.

Mr Hill-Baker said that one of the charges related to indecency with a child on multiple occasions and the other was one incident. The offences occurred between late 2003 and early 2004.

The victim said the abuse became “routine” over a five-month period.

In her early childhood, she didn’t realise why she was so angry because she was so young to understand what had happened to her.

By her teens, she was suffering with anxiety and depression. Later in life, she started to come to terms with what had happened to her and came forward to police.

Unhealthy interest

Steenson’s sexual predilection for children was evidenced even before his conviction for abusing the girl when he was convicted in 2022 of making and distributing indecent images of minors, for which he received a suspended prison sentence, a rehabilitation programme and a sexual-harm prevention order.

However, his online behaviour had been more long-lasting, as evidenced by the caution he received in 2006 for making indecent images of children.

The victim said the devastating effects on her had seeped into adulthood and had led to depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Her schooling and mental health had been profoundly affected and she had since suffered problems forming relationships.

Defence barrister Nicholas Hammond said that Steenson had held down a job for most of his adult life and was now in poor health.

Judge Simon Hickey told Steenson: “You clearly have an unhealthy interest in young children.”

He described the impact on the victim as “severe”, adding: “She’s still suffering with mental-health issues…and she’s having to fight these issues for the rest of her life.”

Steenson was jailed for seven years but will only serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual-harm prevention order to curb his online activities and contact with children.

Description

A paedophile has been jailed after raping a girl in her own bed. Garry Gibbons, 36, of Mile End, East London, was sentenced to six years and four months imprisonment for the rape of a girl aged under 18 at Snaresbroke Crown Court on Wednesday, March 13.

Gibbons had been sleeping in the living room of a home where his young victim was sleeping in a bedroom on 18 April 2023. He got up in the early hours of the morning, entered the room where she was sleeping and then got into the bed and raped her "despite her protests," police said.

His victim then fled the property to a friend's house where the police were called. Forensic samples were taken from the victims clothing that were later identified as being a match for Garry Gibbons.

Gibbons was arrested on August 31, 2023, on suspicion of rape which he denied, despite having left DNA on the victim. He was convicted on March 6, 2024.

Detective Inspector Chris Heathcote of the Mets Public Protection Unit in Tower Hamlets said: "Gibbons is a predatory offender who targeted a young girl, while she slept and despite her protests, raped her.

"He strongly denied the allegation, claiming that he hadnt gone into the room and that he had slept through the night. However, DNA testing of samples taken from the victims clothing proved otherwise."

He added: I am pleased that Garry Gibbons has been removed from the community to a place where he no longer poses a threat to women and girls.

"We understand the anxiety of reporting rape, particularly when the attacker is someone that you know. I urge anyone in that situation to get in touch, at the very least so that we can check you are okay. My thoughts are with the survivor/victim in this case. I hope she may now find a measure of closure.

Description

A charity shop worker has been jailed for two years for possessing extreme child abuse images, after being cleared of exposing herself to two 11-year-old girls.

Samantha Norris was acquitted by a jury at Southampton Crown Court of the two charges of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child which were alleged to have taken place on July 27, 2023. The prosecution had claimed that Norris, who is in the process of gender transitioning, had exposed her penis deliberately to the two youngsters through the window of her flat.

The 56-year-old was also cleared earlier in the trial of two further charges of engaging in sexual activity and two of indecent exposure. Norris told the court that she was a naturist who was habitually naked in her own home and the children could only have seen her naked if they had been spying on her.

Norris, who worked at a Sue Ryder charity shop in her home town of Ringwood, Hampshire, said she had been the victim of abuse from youngsters in the town and she felt these girls had been taunting her. During the trial Charles Gabb, prosecuting, told the jury that Norris was naked by the window when she was seen by the two girls on two days in a row.

He said: The defendant, Miss Norris, now transitioning, she has a penis, was standing there fully naked, on the first day almost glorifying in that nudity over quite a period of time knowing the girls were there and drawing attention to herself. And the next day when she saw them again and she was naked, glorying in her nudity, almost posturing, definitely manipulating her penis with these two young girls being able to see all this. The Crown would suggest there was no attempt to cover up, no attempts of any modesty or propriety.

He said that one of the girls described the defendant throwing her penis around and added both children could see her playing with her penis and knowing the children were watching. It certainly caused alarm for these two children and an element of distress as well.

Norris told the court she thought the children had only seen her head and shoulders and, when asked why she did not put clothes on, replied: Because I am a naturist and I didnt see it was necessary in my own home. She added: For people like me, we can provide an object of curiosity, so we attract unwanted attention and various behaviours related to it. I have seen it quite a lot. I think they got themselves wound up and were taunting me for a while.

After the jury returned its not guilty verdicts, Norris, entered guilty pleas to three charges of making indecent images of children of categories A, B and C, one count of possessing prohibited images of children and a charge of possessing an extreme image depicting a person engaging in sexual activity with an animal.

As well as the prison sentence, Judge Nicholas Rowland made Norris subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years. The court the defendant had 16,000 images of children including about 2,000 still and 121 moving images of category A seriousness. The images included children aged as young as three with others showing youngsters aged about six in distress and pain, the court heard.

Sentencing Norris, Judge Rowland said that Norris had also in her possession written notes describing sexual fantasies involving a four-and-a-half year old child and a New Years resolution to have sex with a girl under 10.

He told the defendant: Its all about you Samantha Norris and not the victims. You do not accept they are victims, you have distorted views and you do not feel your offending should be treated as serious how would a right-minded person think about that? Your views are alarming and complex you present a high risk of harm to children.

He added: Its pretty blatant to me that you decided not to enter guilty pleas (earlier) as these pleas would have gone in front of the jury of the other matters.

Description

A sex offender has been jailed after targeting teenagers in Tenterden in November 2023.

On Friday 3 November and Monday 6 November 2023, Joseph Kemp, 33, approached teenage girls in the Ashford Road area of the town and made inappropriate comments to them.

Investigation

The girls reported the incidents and, following an investigation by the East Kent Vulnerability Investigation Team, Kemp was charged on Thursday 9 November.

Kemp, of Tenterden Road, Cranbrook, pleaded guilty to two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Jailed

He was sentenced to three years and seven months’ imprisonment at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday 14 March 2024.

Description

A delivery driver arranged to meet a schoolboy and go back to his house while he was in the course of making drop-offs in the company van, a court has heard. When father-of-two Tyrone Felton arrived at the rendezvous he was was met not by a child but by plain clothes police officers, and an examination of the van revealed its internal CCTV cameras had been covered up.

Sending the 54-year-old to prison a judge at Swansea Crown Court told him the sooner he came to terms with the fact he had "paedophile tendencies" the better it would be for him and for society. He said he sincerely hoped the defendant would take advantage of sex offender education programmes that were available behind bars.

Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said in February this year a decoy profile purporting to belong to a 14-year-old boy was deployed on social media as part of an operation by Tarian, the southern Wales organised crime unit, to identify potential online sex offenders. He said Felton - who was going by the online name Dave1 - made contact with the profile and they began chatting. The court heard the decoy talked about school and made it clear he was aged 14, and Felton said that was fine. During the conversation Felton asked the boy about his underwear and asked if he could "accommodate" if they were to meet.

The court heard Felton told the decoy he was a delivery driver and was currently in Cowbridge heading west to Haverfordwest, and plans were made to meet "at a public place" in Carmarthen so the defendant could pick up the boy and go to the teen's house. At lunchtime Felton arrived at the rendezvous in his van to be met by undercover police officers who had been sent to the location. The court heard that when the defendant's van was searched officers found the internal CCTV cameras in the vehicle had been obscured by a fleece jacket and caps. The defendant was taken to Dafen police station and subsequently answered "no comment" to all questions asked in interview. Mr Pulling said as the Tarian operation was ongoing the name being used by the decoy profile, the social media platforms it was operating on, and the location of the meeting point in Carmarthen would no be revealed in open court.

Tyrone Felton, of Heol Heddwch, Seven Sisters, Dulais Valley, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, attempted sexual communications with a child, and arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has a conviction from 1991 for gross indecency with a child and attempted kidnapping of a child, an incident which saw him exposing his penis to young children and inciting them to touch it.

Harry Dickens, for Felton, said the defendant had gone online to meet and talk to men but his use of the apps "spiralled", and he said the father-of-two could not explain what had precipitated offending that was before the court. He said the defendant "wished he had never done it" and was "deeply sorry".

Judge Paul Thomas KC said the defendant's antecedent record showed that he had had "paedophile tendencies" for a considerable period of time and it may be that sometimes they were "latent" and others "active". He said it was clear from the contents of the pre-sentence report that Felton was in denial, and he told the defendant that the sooner he came to terms with that fact he had a problem the better it would be for him and for society. He noted Felton was not particularly remorseful for his actions but was remorseful for the impact on his family.

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Felton was sentenced to two years in prison - he will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. He was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the next five years, and will be a registered sex offender for the same length of time. Judge Thomas told Felton he sincerely hoped he would take advantage of sex offender education programmes that were available in custody.

Description

A sexual predator has been jailed for 15 years for coercive controlling behaviour and raping a woman in Gosport.

Connor Richard Barnes, of no fixed address on the Isle of Wight, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday, January 18, where a jury found him guilty of two charges of rape and coercive controlling behaviour.

The offences took place between January 2020 and March 2022.

Following the verdict, the 28-year-old was remanded in custody until appearing again at the court on Tuesday, March 12, where he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

Description

An "unrepentant sexual predator" who failed to change his ways was jailed after being snared by paedophile hunters. Roy Moseley sent sickening images and messages to a decoy, who he believed to be a 13-year-old schoolgirl

The 66-year-old set up a profile on Chat-Avenue using his middle name, which a judge said was 'no doubt an attempt to conceal his true identity and avoid detection'. Over three-and-a-half months, Moseley had "persistently tried to persuade" the 'girl' to engage in sexual activity, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

He lied to the 'girl' about his age, telling her he was 45 and, despite being told her young age "right from the very start", he made reference to his penis and finding her sexually desirable. The court was told Moseley had "persisted in forcefully asking her to send pictures" and asked her to watch as he carried out vile acts.

Moseley had sent explicit photographs and videos to the 'girl' on "multiple occasions" and made suggestions as to how she could avoid detection by her family when sending him the pictures he had asked for. He also attempted to make video calls and made "continual sexualised suggestions" as to what he would like to do to her during the conversations, which spanned between August 29 and December 10 last year.

As she sentenced Moseley on Thursday, March 14, Her Honour Judge Amy Jacobs told him: "There is a wealth of evidence obtained over the last few years about the lasting harm that is caused to children through sexual abuse such as this. And it's lucky in your case no children were harmed, because the child with whom you thought you were communicating with was a decoy, she doesn't exist."

She continued: "You have been convicted of similar offending before. In 2012, you were convicted for making and possessing indecent images of children, and that led to a community order, with a requirement to participate in a sex offender treatment programme. Although I'm told you did complete that programme, clearly, you didn't change your ways as a result of it because in 2019, you were convicted of similar offences to these and you were sent to prison.

"To put it bluntly, you are an unrepentant sexual predator, who repeatedly seeks sexual gratification with children and you have not been willing or able to resist your sexual desire for children, despite, what must have been significant input from the probation service."

Moseley, who lived in Worcester Court, Wolverhampton, was jailed for 44 months after pleading guilty to two charges. For attempting to to cause/incite a child to engage in sexual activity - no penetration - he received 44 months, and for attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, he was given 20 months, to be served concurrently. He was told he would serve up to half of the sentence in custody before being released on licence. He was told time spent on remand in custody would count towards the sentence.

The judge also made Moseley the subject of a 15-year sexual harm prevention order and told him it was "necessary to try to prevent you from causing similar harm in the future". She continued: "You've clearly not learned your lesson from the offences of which you've previously been convicted and which span a large number of years. I very much hope that on this occasion, you are able to access some help whilst you are in custody so that when you are released we do not have to deal with you once again for this kind of offending."

Description

A CONVICTED sex offender from Abergele who used multiple aliases to speak to children has been jailed.

Arfon Griffiths, 44, of Ger y Mor, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Caernarfon Crown Court today (March 15).

He had previously admitted numerous counts of breaching his sexual harm prevention order, two offences of failing to comply with sex offenders register notification requirements, and one charge of attempted sexual communication with a child.

Prosecuting, David Mainstone told the court that Griffiths became a convicted sex offender in 2013, when he was jailed for inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

It was because of this conviction that he became subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

But on February 17, 2023, using the name “Liam Williams”, he sent a series of messages on social media to a girl, placing him in breach of the order.

When police attended Griffiths’ home on March 9, 2023, a mobile phone found under a mattress was seized by officers.

Analysis of the phone found that Griffiths had been communicating with four other girls, whom he told he was a 17-year-old, on the internet.

In the case of three of the four girls, the communication was not sexual in nature, brief and garnered little response, though Griffiths did compliment them on their looks.

But communication was sexual with the fourth girl, who was described as being “extremely vulnerable”.

Griffiths complimented her on her cleavage, told her she would be “amazing in bed”, and asked her to send him a “sexy pic”.

In communicating with four of these girls, Griffiths used another name; “Lee Jones” – he had failed to disclose either aliases with police.

One of Griffiths’ victims said his actions have made her feel “unsafe” and “anxious”, adding that she worries about seeing him and suffers nightmares about him.

She said: “I used to enjoy going out with my friends when we were off school. However, now, I second-guess whether to go.

“I never thought it could happen to me.”

Defending Griffiths, who had one previous conviction for two offences, Elen Owen said he has made “full and frank admissions” about his offending behaviour.

Griffiths has, “in his own words”, Ms Owen said, “let himself down”, and “beats himself up about what he’s done”.

“He hasn’t, at any stage, sought to make excuses,” she added.

Sentencing, Judge Nicola Saffman criticised the decision to initially bail Griffiths, rather than remand him in custody, as he was at a later date.

Griffiths “should never, ever” have been bailed, Judge Saffman said.

She added: “The impact that’s been caused to her (the victim who gave the aforementioned statement) is as a result of an error made by those who took the decision to bail him.”

An indefinite restraining order was issued, while Judge Saffman ordered all devices seized from Griffiths to be forfeited and destroyed.

Description

A prison officer sexually assaulted a young woman and used fake profiles to abuse her online. Christopher Gould, who worked at HMP Parc in Bridgend, tried to "control, dominate, and sexually abuse" the teenage victim, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

The 45-year-old from Maesteg used a range of fake social media accounts to "befriend" the victim and her friends. Gould was then able to monitor her whereabouts and whom she was with. On one occasion he pretended to be a disgruntled customer at her place of work and used a pseudonym to email a malicious complaint to her employer, which caused her to be fired from her job.

The sexual assault happened following a night out when the victim was feeling "upset and paranoid, thinking she was being stalked" because of the relentless online campaign against her. The person she turned to in her distress was Gould whom she believed to be a caring and trustworthy adult but was in fact the architect of that campaign. After giving her a lift home he sexually assaulted her.

In her personal statement, read out in court, the victim said: “He tried to destroy me and my life. It led to me having a deep mistrust of others – something I worry will take a long time to overcome. I felt sick, I couldn't eat, I would hyperventilate, and went into a downward spiral. It has left me constantly looking over my shoulder for danger... I want Chris to know he loses his power over me. I refuse to allow his twisted, abusive, and controlling behaviours to dictate my future."

Gould, of Cwrt Coed Parc, pleaded guilty to controlling, coercive behaviour and malicious communications. He denied sexual assault but a jury found him guilty. He had no previous convictions though he received a caution for theft in 2016.

His barrister Owen Williams said Gould was a prison officer for seven months. He resigned when the allegations were made and later found employment in insurance but was dismissed from that job following the jury's guilty verdict. Mr Williams added: "Throughout his adult life he has worked consistently. He is living with his parents in their home. He provides care to them because both to some extent are elderly and unwell."

The judge said Gould was "completely obsessed and infatuated" with the young woman, and had tried to "control, dominate, and sexually abuse" her. He imposed a jail term of four years. Gould will serve half that time in custody and the remainder on licence. He must pay a £190 victim services surcharge.

Detective constable Cath Moore of South Wales Police said: “This was a complex case where the victim showed tenacity and courage to come forward and make a complaint. After a prolonged investigation we were able to link the social media and email accounts back to Christopher Gould. It takes tremendous courage and bravery for victims of sexual offences to revisit what are traumatic times in their lives, especially as the offences often remain hidden from family and friends. My message to victims out there is that it is never too late to come forward and report matters. We will fully support you and do everything we can to bring abusers to justice.”

Description

A man who began sexually abusing a boy nearly 30 years ago has been jailed – after the victim’s family made an audio recording of him admitting his crimes.

Anthony Moore committed the abuse between 1994 and 1998, while living in the Charnwood area. His crimes came to light in 2022 when his victim – now an adult – told police about what had happened.

When interviewed by detectives from the Child Abuse Investigation Unit’s non-recent team, he initially denied the claims. However, he then answered ‘no comment’ to all further questions when an audio recording made by people known to the victim was played to him, in which he could be heard admitting what he was alleged to have done.

He was subsequently charged with seven counts of indecent assault on boy under the age of 16 years and five counts of gross indecency with a boy under 16 years of age. He pleaded guilty to both offences when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on 14 July last year.

Yesterday (Thursday 14 March) at Leicester Crown Court, the 58-year-old was sentenced to 10 years and eight months’ imprisonment.

Moore, of Lonsdale Road in Stamford, Lincolnshire, was made subject to a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and a lifetime restraining order forbidding contact with the victim.

Detective Constable Aisling McPhillips, the officer in the case, said: “Moore was an adult when the abuse began – and the victim was a child. The abuse started nearly 30 years ago and I’m certain he thought his crimes would never come to light.

“However, his victim has shown great courage in reporting what happened to police, meaning that Moore is now serving time in prison for what he did and I hope he can continue to move on with his life.

“I also hope this case serves as an example to any other victims of non-recent sexual abuse that it’s never too late to report things to police and that we will endeavour to bring those responsible to justice.”