Latest Offenders

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Leonard Wheatcroft, 80, of Belmont Road, Hereford was sentenced on Wednesday, 15 June 2022 at Worcester Crown Court to ten years imprisonment having been found guilty at trial for non-recent sex offences.

Detective Constable Leah Lowe commented: This was a challenging and complex investigation which took several years of intensive investigation. I welcome this sentence which is reflective of the trauma and suffering Wheatcrofts actions brought his victims. I admire the bravery and strength the victims have shown throughout the investigation. This result demonstrates West Mercia Polices dedication to supporting victims of sexual violence and reassure our communities that we will pursue justice regardless of when the offence took place or the age of the offender.

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He hid away 97 images he persuaded the girl to send him

A paedophile groomed a 14-year-old girl before getting her to send revealing photos of herself and perform sex acts whilst on the phone to him. Mark Quinn, 32, initially showered the victim with compliments before leaving her so scared she went along with what he said.

Quinn, of no fixed abode, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence having pleaded guilty to sexual communications with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and making indecent images of a child. All the offences took place in Liskeard in early 2020.

Prosecuting the case, Brian Fitzherbert described how Quinn met the girl and even offered to help intervene with difficulties in her family.

He gradually introduced a sexual element to the conversation, talking about kissing and describing her as beautiful, hot and sexy. The victim then spoke of how Quinn made the conversation dirty.

The frequencies of calls and messages escalated to the point when Quinn was contacting her every five minutes. Quinn told her to delete messages on instruction and got her to pose for him in a bra, before storing the 97 pictures away in a hidden folder.

Mr Fitzherbert said: She became increasingly scared and felt she had to do everything he said. Mr Fitzherbert went on to speak of how Quinn persuaded the girl to masturbate over the phone, as he did the same on the other end of the line.

The offending was eventually detected when the girl had her phone confiscated for an unrelated misdemeanour.

In mitigation, Barry Hilliard said: He doesnt know how and why he got into this but was not in a good place mentally and was drinking too much. Hes been dumb with anxiety waiting for his fate.

He comes from a broken home his father was an alcoholic and left when Mr Quinn was 11.

Sentencing Quinn, Judge Simon Carr said: You started an internet relationship with her and initially, and troublingly purported to put yourself forward as someone could assist with family matters.

Having set-up this position you carefully groomed her and the conversations became sexual in nature. You knew she was 14 and particularly vulnerable.

You got her to pose repeatedly and provocatively in her bra and 97 pictures were saved for you to continuously view for your own sexual gratification.

Judge Carr referenced how Quinn got the girl to masturbate before jailing him for three years. He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and relevant sex offender notification requirements.

A statement from the victims family said: When Mark came along he was in a position of trust.

We soon realised something wasn't right when our daughter started acting out of character, when we checked her phone we were in total shock. We feel betrayed, hurt and lost and picking up the pieces was a long and hard process.

All I will say is I know we had our rocky patch but we come through it and our bonds are now as strong as ever. My daughter is a rock and current wife is an absolute angel who will do anything to protect this family.

Hopefully justice has been served and we can all start a new chapter. The whole family would like to send our sincere gratitude to the officers and case workers who were involved. You have been absolutely fantastic and we will always remember the hard work you have put in gaining evidence. It will never go unnoticed and will never be forgotten.

Police get a lot of flak but when it comes to our children they work very hard to see that some sort of justice is served. The ripple effect it had was immense and I'll never wish it on anyone. Please, please if your child acts out of character always follow your gut instinct. My daughter is thankful it's all over and we can now move on and close this very hard chapter that tested this family to the limits. Thankfully we got there before it got even more serious.

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A NEWTON Abbot man has been jailed for seven years for abusing a young child at his home.

Benjamin Goldsworthy assaulted the 11-year-old in ways which mirrored online pornography that he accessed just hours earlier.

The schoolgirl was visiting his home when he touched her breasts and private parts as she played on a computer game.

Both the nature of the sexual assaults and the description of the victim were almost identical to the girl in the material which he had been looking at online the night before.

His assaults have left the girl so scared of any physical contact that she no longer likes to hold her younger sisters hand.

Goldsworthy, aged 41, of Bugle Place, Newton Abbot, denied sexual assault of a child and two counts of assault by penetration but was found guilty by a jury at Exeter Crown Court.

He was jailed for seven years with a one-year extended licence by Judge David Evans, who declared him to be an offender of particular concern and put him on the sex offenders register for life.

He told him he would be banned from working with children by the Declaration and Barring Service.

He said Goldsworthy had caused untold psychological damage to the victim and that his offending and online activity suggested an interest in the sexual abuse of children.

During a trial last month, Mr Jason Beal, prosecuting, told the jury that the young victim told her mother about the abuse in February 2019 after her parents noticed she was upset about something.

A download of Goldsworthys phone after his arrest showed he accessed child sex stories in the days before the offences which mirrored what he went on to do.

Goldsworthy denied touching the girl at all and claimed she had invented the entire incident. He said the stories he downloaded were a coincidence.

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A prolific sex offender from North Yorkshire who targeted children on social media and threatened to share indecent images of them online has been jailed.

Mark Anthony Wilson was sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment, at Teesside Crown Court yesterday, for a catalogue of sexual offences involving children as young as seven.

North Yorkshire Police said the 35-year-old, from Allen Grove in Stokesley, targeted children and teenagers across the country using social media.

He asked for intimate, sexual photographs and video, threatening to expose them and their families if they did not give into his requests, between 2018 and 2020.

The force said he posted a number of images online, leaving his victims frightened, humiliated and degraded.

In one case, Wilson sent a mother a video of her naked teenage son.

In another, he sent racially offensive, abusive and sexual messages to a 16-year-old girl, threatening to post videos on YouTube claiming her father had raped her.

During their investigation, officers found Wilson had obtained images and a video of a seven-year-olds genitals after exchanging more than 200 messages and Facetime calls with the child.

Wilson also had indecent images of an eight-year-old girl and had exchanged 1,149 messages with her.

He was jailed after he pleaded guilty to 27 offences at York Magistrates Court over the course of three hearings, between August 2021 and February 2022.

Detective Constable Karen Barugh said Wilson committed multiple malicious and sexual offences against children and caused them great distress.

She added: They must have been terrified at the thought of him carrying out his threats.

Despite being arrested, he continued to commit offences while on bail, his offending increasing in severity over time. He was prolific in his targeting of children and has shown no remorse for what he did.

I'd like to thank those children and young people who were brave enough to come forward and give a statement to the police. I would urge anyone else to do the same if they are victim of any type of sexual offence.

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A sexual predator who plied his underage victim with alcohol before abusing her has been jailed after police uncovered how he groomed her over a long period of time.

Arron Gray, of Sycamore Place, Killingworth, meticulously-groomed his young victim into believing she was in a relationship with him.

He would invite her to his home and plie her with alcohol before sexually abusing her – fully aware she was under the legal age of consent.

In 2018, a concerned adult discovered sexualised messages Gray had sent to his underage victim and reported him to the police.

An investigation was launched by Northumbria Police's Safeguarding Department with specialist officers providing wrap-around care to support the victim and Gray was arrested.

The 21-year-old denied the allegations put to him but was later charged with six offences of sexual activity with a child and the case was sent to Newcastle Crown Court for trial.

In court, he was found guilty of all six offences.

He was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars.

Gray was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and will have to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

Detective Sergeant Amanda Harland led the investigation and has today praised the bravery of the victim and hopes it can help encourage others to speak out by saying: "know the law - there is no grey area when it comes to sexual activity with a child."

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A jury has dismissed a paedophiles claims that he didnt intend to have sex with a 14-year-old girl after driving 170 miles to meet her. Karl Wasley, 56, drove from his home in Cornwall to Bristol Temple Meads railway station to meet Scarlett - who he had been tricked into thinking was a young girl, following a period of grooming online.

Wasley arrived at Bristol to be confronted by paedophile hunters behind the fake profile. The 56-year-old from Threemilestone, near Truro, has been jailed after a trial at Truro Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child but not guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. The prosecution said he was intending to carry out a sexual offence when he met Scarlett and a jury agreed, finding Wasley guilty of the contested charge. Wasley was then sentenced on the spot to 20 months, of which he must serve half before being released on licence.

Opening the case earlier in the week, Emily Cook told the jury that it involved an adult decoy setting up a social media profile pretending to be a 14-year-old girl called Scarlett. She said: Mr Wasley contacted and groomed Scarlett and then arranged to meet her. The prosecution says he was intending to carry out a sexual offence when he met Scarlett.

Ms Cook said: The person behind the profile was an adult decoy and on this occasion they set up a profile on an app called Tagged. Tagged is meant to be for over 18s but the profile had a picture of a girl who clearly looked like a young child. The adult had used a face app to appear younger.

The decoy waited to see who would message the profile and on January 9, 2022 Karl Wasley messaged. The decoy said she was 14 but Mr Wasley said he didnt mind. He started paying her compliments and asked if she had a boyfriend. He said he wishes he was young enough to ask her out. The decoy made her age clear and referred to school.

Ms Cook explained how the profile was twice thrown off Tagged by moderators, but both times new ones appeared and Wasley would soon be in contact again. Wasley also lied about his age to the girl and gave a fake name, claiming he was 49 when he was 56.

The conversations moved to WhatsApp and ranged, according to Ms Cook, from general conversation to Wasley referring to her as his girl and saying he wanted to kiss and cuddle her and for her to wiggle on his lap. Wasley spoke about going for a drive and it probably being hot in the car so shed have to take off layers.

Wasley admitted he believed he was talking to a 14-year-old, doing so for his own sexual gratification and being a paedophile, but denied going to Bristol to commit a sexual offence. Wasley arranged to meet the girl at Bristol Temple Meads train station and drove there only to be confronted by a group of males from a paedophile hunter group. Wasley drove off in a panic and caused damage to a taxi, only to arrive home and find officers waiting for him.

Sentencing shortly after the verdict, which followed a short period of jury deliberation at Truro Crown Court, judge Anna Richardson heard how Wasley had two previous convictions for 25 offences relating to having indecent images of children, in 2006 and 2016 respectively. Despite completing a programme to address his sexual attraction to children in 2020, he offended once again earlier this year.

Judge Richardson said, concluding: "Notwithstanding the seriousness of the offences, I have to remind myself that these are attempts. And they are not attempts where there was a real child involved who would be therefore damaged. Rather there was no child in this case.

"Its to your disadvantage you pursued a hopeless defence in this trial to count one of the indictment." As well as his prison sentence Wasley will be signed on to the sex offenders register.

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A MAN from Shetland has been found guilty of sexual assault following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The court heard that Ellis Birnie, 27, assaulted one woman during an outing.

The victim, who is diabetic, said that at the time she was very, very deeply asleep, almost comatose as her blood sugars were high.

She told the court: I was completely sparked out. I woke up at one point to find his hand inside my trousers.

I had come to enough to realise stuff was going on, but I was not fully alert, she said in pre-recorded evidence played to a jury at Birnies trial.

The woman said the incident occurred on October 2018 but told the court that Birnie had previously assaulted her at his home in Sandveien, Lerwick.

She said in September that year Birnie had shown her round at the address, including going into a bedroom.

The woman said she was pinned down and could not get up, and Birnie carried out sex acts.

Birnie had denied a string of charges during his trial but was convicted of three offences on Wednesday on majority verdicts by the jury.

He was found guilty of sexually assaulting his first victim on various occasions between 12 September and 3 December in 2018 at the address at Sandveien and other locations in Shetland.

Birnie was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a second woman in Shetland between 1 February and 24 August 2020.

Birnie was also convicted of engaging in abusive behaviour towards the second woman in 2020.

The trial judge, Lord Richardson, deferred sentence on Birnie until next month for the preparation of a background report.

Birnie was remanded in custody and placed on the sex offenders register.

Responding to the news, detective sergeant Bruce Peebles said: The conviction of Birnie sends a clear message to anyone found guilty of sexual offences, you will be brought to justice.

He befriended his vulnerable victims and I want to acknowledge their tremendous bravery, which has ultimately helped in this conviction. His actions will have had a long term effect on them and he must now face the consequences for his horrific behaviour.

I hope todays outcome will give them some form of closure.

We would take this opportunity to encourage anyone who has been a victim of such crimes that should they wish to report this to the police, they will be treated sensitively, listened to, and all such allegations will be investigated thoroughly.

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A sex offender who repeatedly raped a woman while she lay unconscious has been jailed for life.

Aurel Birlan put his victim through a near two-hour ordeal during an attack which only ended when he was confronted by a passer-by.

The offences were committed in Medway during the early hours one morning in December.

Yesterday, Maidstone Crown Court heard how Birlan, of Watts Street, Chatham, was interrupted by a man who had encountered him and the victim in a public place.

The passer-by noticed she was undressed, not moving and appeared to be injured.

He questioned the 44-year-old man about what had happened, before calling 999 and waiting with both the offender and victim until police arrived.

Birlan was arrested at the scene and an investigation was launched.

Police later recovered CCTV which showed the victim's repeat pleas for him to stop and that she was unconscious for more than an hour during the assaults.

Birlan was charged with two counts of rape, and three counts of sexual assault.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The judge ordered him to serve a minimum of eight years and three months before he is eligible to be considered for parole.

He was also added to the sex offenders register for life and made subject of a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting the victim.

Investigating officer, detective sergeant Kendal Moore said: "Birlan subjected his victim to a prolonged and truly harrowing ordeal, only stopping when a passer-by bravely intervened.

"Today's sentence will hopefully go some way to allowing the victim to live a normal life, knowing at least this dangerous man is now behind bars.

"She has shown tremendous dignity and bravery throughout the course of this investigation and I wish to commend her for that.

He added: "I would also like to thank the member of public who challenged Birlan. His courageous intervention was absolutely vital in ensuring Birlan was promptly arrested and that the victim was also protected from suffering any further harm."

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A woman from Sefton has been jailed for more than nine years following an investigation into sexual offences against a teenage boy. 

On 15 February 2019, Sarah Campbell, 39 years, of no fixed address but formerly from Bootle, was arrested and charged with engaging in regular sexual activity with the 15-year-old victim between January 2016 and January 2017.

She pleaded not guilty, and initially failed to appear part-way through the trial which took place in May 2021.

However she was arrested on 12 May this year and brought back before the courts where she pleaded to all nine counts of sexual activity with a child.

She was remanded in custody until her court sentencing today, Tuesday 14 June, at Liverpool Crown Court where she was jailed for nine years and six months.

Detective Sergeant Peter Sloan said: “Thankfully, despite trying to evade justice by failing to appear in court, Campbell is now paying for her crimes.

“The atrocious abuse that Campbell carried out not only traumatises victims when it happens, but has a huge impact on their mental wellbeing which can last a lifetime. It can also cause irreparable damage to a victim’s faith and trust in adults, which can affect their ability to form trusting relationships.

“The bravery shown by the victim and his family in coming forward and reporting Campbell to police so that that she could be brought to justice means she cannot cause any further harm.

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Rapist jailed after brave victims help us secure convictions

A man who raped a woman and blackmailed her over naked photos has been jailed after we worked with her, plus another woman, to secure his conviction.

Carlos Fletcher, who also tried to rape a 14-year-old girl, was jailed for 12 years after the two women bravely came forward to disclose the offences.

With the support of our specially-trained officers they were able to help us build the case against 23-year-old Fletcher.

The first girl contacted us in autumn of 2020 to tell us that back in 2017, when she was 14, Fletcher forced her to repeatedly engage in sexual activities with him.

And that pressure from him continued when he started asking for naked images.

His second victim, who was around 20 when he raped her, also got in contact with us after telling a confidante what Fletcher had done.

She'd also felt forced to send him naked images and he threatened to share those with other people if she didnt give him money.

Our digital forensics experts were able to retrieve images from Fletcher's phone and unlock messages from him to present compelling evidence to the trial jury.

Fletcher, of Junction Road, Ettingshall, Wolverhampton, had denied all the charges rape, attempted rape of a child, sexual activity with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and blackmail.

But after a five-day trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, he was convicted on 9 April on all five counts. Fletcher was given a 12-year jail sentence on 1 June and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

DC David Powles from our Public Protection Unit, said: "The bravery of these two women, in coming to us and being able to tell us what happened to them, has been vital in this case.

"We have been able to support them throughout the investigation, legal hearings and as they provided the court with their testimonies. And it has resulted in Fletcher being put behind bars for many years, preventing him from preying on any other women.

"We hope his conviction and jailing will now help these two courageous women in their recovery from their awful ordeals."

If youve been subjected to a sexual assault, no matter how long ago, we have specialist officers to help you.

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A child rapist walked free from court today after his dementia diagnosis meant he could not stand trial.

A jury in a fact finding hearing at Liverpool Crown Court determined John Fisher had subjected two girls to a campaign of rape and sexual assault for years. Yet the paedophile could not be jailed as he was not formally convicted of the offences due to his health conditions.

A judge today warned Fisher still poses a risk to women and girls as he handed him a supervision order that allowed him to keep his liberty with conditions.

Michael Scholes, prosecuting, said Fisher committed rape and sexual assaults on two girls throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Liverpool Crown Court heard his victims reported the crimes years later and the 75 year old was charged.

He said in a crown court hearing last year that he would fight the charges but a number of medical assessments found he was unfit to stand trial after being diagnosed with vascular dementia. In a rare move, Fishers case was then put before a jury in what is known as a fact finding hearing. Mr Scholes said: The jury found that in fact the defendant had done the acts and that the victims were telling the truth.

While juries in these hearings make a judgement on the facts of a case in a similar way to those in a trial, they cannot convict. Instead, defendants in these cases are sentenced by a judge on the basis of the jurys findings - but the lack of a conviction means the courts power to punish is severely restricted. The only options in Fishers case were to detain him in hospital, hand him a supervision order or discharge him.

Doctors said he was unsuitable for a hospital order and, at a previous hearing, Judge Anil Murray said a discharge, which would see no further action taken, would be unsuitable because Fisher needed the supervision of support workers.

John Weate, defending, said he believed a supervision order was the only suitable option. Mr Weate said: I have come to a conclusion and my submission is that I cannot in good conscience ask the court to consider an absolute discharge.

Both victims said they continued to deal with the fallout of the abuse and said it had marked their entire lives. In a statement to the court, one said: I always wonder what person I would have been if this did not happen to me.

Judge Anil Murray sentenced Fisher to a two year suspension order, the maximum. He raised concerns about Fishers behaviour in recent years and said he still posed a risk to the public. He said: Whilst the most recent offence in this case was 20 years ago there is evidence that you have behaved in a sexually inappropriate way towards staff at the unit where you were residing as well as members of the public.

Fisher, previously of Webster Avenue in Wallasey, was handed a two year supervision order. He was also given a restraining order which prevents him from contacting his victims for ten years and a sexual harm prevention order that places restrictions on him for the same period of time. He will be subject to the notification requirements for sex offenders for five years.

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A Derbyshire pervert has lost his home, wife and job after he "used and abused" an underage girl for sex over a two-year period and threatened to kill her if she spoke out. A graphic and detailed account of Michael Scott's abuse was given to the court by prosecutors.

Scott, 48, began abusing the girl after they started speaking on social media. A friend of the victim then noticed naked pictures on her phone exchanged between the two. Videos and pictures of Scott, of no fixed abode, abusing the girl were then also found on his phone.

His actions, committed in the Derby area, were described in court as "debasing and disgusting." Scott has now been jailed for six years, his first time in prison, is barred from having any contact with females under the age of 18 and is on the sex offenders register and subject to a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.

Henry James, prosecuting, told Derby Crown Court on Tuesday, June 7: "He showered her with gifts out of a depraved and sexual interest. She was confused. She knew it was wrong. Mr Scott systematically used her as a thing that he could maul and foul."

Mr James said that the gifts included a laptop and the victim later detailed to police a "catalogue of foul and depraved" acts committed by Scott. Scans of Scott's mobile phone also showed internet searches of whether iMessages could be used as evidence in court.

In a short victim personal statement, read out by Mr James, the victim said: "At the time of when this happened I felt scared and worried. He said he would kill me. I did not feel safe. I feel like I'm dealing well with what happened."

Scott, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to two counts of having sex with an underage girl on March 23. Pleas of not guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images were accepted by the prosecution and were instead considered an aggravating feature of the offences.

James Varley, defending, said that Scott had been granted time by a different judge to get his affairs in order including putting his narrowboat home into storage and handing his notice in with his employers. Mr Varley said his wife had also left him as a consequence of his offending.

He said: "This is a man who is now 48, who stands to lose his good name. He has worked all his life. He will lose his livelihood as his plant operating licences will lapse and when he is released he will have to start from scratch again.

"He has had to spend the last few weeks explaining to his family what has happened and what the consequences will be. In a more eloquent testament to the man he is, his family have come along to support him. I am not suggesting that they have forgiven him but they have come along to show him some love. He is a man who has a lot of good about him.

"He has acted in the last few weeks with a great deal of integrity and realism. What I submit to the court is genuine remorse."

Sentencing Scott to concurrent six-year sentences on both charges, Judge Shaun Smith QC said: "You showered her with gifts and attention and over a two-year period you proceeded to develop a relationship with her and you abused her in a particularly significant and unimaginable way. To use the words of the prosecutor, you systematically used and abused her.

"You recorded some of what happened and while they no longer form any charges, they aggravate your position. Your phone had images showing you abusing her. What you did must be unimaginable to any normal human being.

"The whole thing was debasing and disgusting and it was at your hands, a 48-year-old adult. Your desires clearly got the better of you because up to then you were of good character. You had a good name which you have now lost, someone with a livelihood which you have now lost, someone with a home which you have now lost."

Scott will serve half of his sentence in custody before being released on licence. He must both sign the sex offender register and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely, and is barred from contact of any sort with females under the age of 18 and from contacting the victim directly or indirectly.

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A PAEDOPHILE has had his jail sentence increased to more than 13 years after a woman broke her silence of half a century.

John Arthur Fairburn, now 74, abused her for years, starting when she was nine years old, Nick Adlington, prosecuting, told York Crown Court.

Some years after he stopped abusing her, he sexually assaulted two other girls, starting when they were seven. He was jailed for five and a half years months for that abuse in November 2020.

Only when the woman saw reports of that case did she feel able to go to police and reveal what Fairburn had done to her when she was a child.

I wish I had spoken up when I was younger, she said in a personal statement. It may have saved others.

No apology can make up for his depraved actions.

She said the shame and embarrassment she suffered because of Fairburn at times still overwhelmed her some days.

He took advantage of my innocence and naivety for a long period of my childhood. I felt so ashamed when the significance of what he had subjected me to, she said.

She had managed to speak to her GP when she was a young woman and received counselling but found it so difficult to speak about what had happened to her that she had stopped the counselling early.

Fairburn, formerly a farmer in Deighton south of York, pleaded guilty to eight charges of indecently assaulting the woman, starting when she was under 13 and after a gap of a couple of years, when she was aged 13 and 14.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris said: This was wicked offending. It must be met with condign punishment.

He jailed Fairburn for eight years, to be served after he finishes the sentence he received in November 2020 for the abuse of the two girls. On that occasion, he pleaded guilty to 10 charges of sexual assault and one of inciting a child to sexual activity.

Fairburn is now serving a total sentence of 13 and a half years and will have an extra year on parole when he is released. He was also made subject indefinitely to a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order banning him from contacting the three victims, and will be on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.

For him, Kevin Blount said: He feels great personal shame for what he has done. There is evidence of genuine remorse.

Fairburn had admitted what he had done to the police and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity before the courts in both cases.

The abuse of the two girls that started when they were seven was over a period of four years, York Crown Court heard in November 2020. One of the girls had had difficulties before he began abusing her.

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A police online investigation team were alerted to the images being downloaded at Joshua Bevan's home in Swansea

Indecent images of children as young as four being abused were found on the phone of a convicted sex offender, a court has heard. In June 2021, South Wales Police officers from the online investigation team based in Bridgend were alerted to a computer linked to an address in Crwys Terrace, Penlan, Swansea - Joshua Neil Bevan's home address, was being used to download indecent images of children.

Detectives from the department turned up at his address at 7.10am on June 21, where they told him and his mother that they would be carrying out a search on the property. They examined electronic devices including a Samsung mobile phone found in Bevan's bedroom. Swansea Crown Court heard the phone was examined by a digital forensic officer who located a secure folder on the device. It was accessed and multiple indecent videos depicting child abuse and extreme pornography were discovered on the messenger application Kik. Bevan was arrested and taken to the police station to be interviewed.

He accepted ownership of the phone, but answered no comment regarding the material found on the device. A further examination was carried out of the advice and it found 12 indecent videos within a chat group on Kik which Bevan was a member of together with eight other members. Two of the videos were category A - the most serious, one category C, and nine containing extreme pornography. The recordings were of girls as young as four.

Prosecutor Dean Pulling told the court Bevan, aged 29, is a sex offender who was convicted in 2014 for making and possessing indecent photographs of children for which he was sentenced to a community order at the time and a five-year sexual offences prevention order. He appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing having previously pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent photographs of a child and possessing an extreme pornographic image portraying an act of intercourse/oral sex with a dead/alive animal.

Mitigating, his solicitor John Allchurch said: "The material was found on an app called Kik, which is shared by the defendant with others. Someone other than the defendant saved the material to the group. His mistake was, particularly with his background and previous convictions, that he didn't leave the group or leave the app from his mobile phone. He is now 29, a single man and resides at his address with his mother. He is not working and has not done for the last ten years due to mental health issues."

Sentencing Bevan to eight months in prison, Judge Paul Thomas said: "The physical and emotional damage that occurs to the girls (depicted in the photographs) can only be guessed at. Those things are happening to young children because people like you provide a market for it so you can masturbate to it. There were also images of people having sex with animals. I accept you have mental health issues, however, in my view, there is no prospect of rehabilitation. You had that chance and didn't take advantage of it."

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A 21-YEAR-OLD man from Abercynon has appeared before Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Monday, June 13 to be sentenced for a series of sexual offences against children.

Krzystof Abramowicz has pleaded guilty to 25 counts of sexual offences against 25 different child victims as young as nine years old. He has been sentenced to four years and eight months in custody.

Detectives from Tarian, the regional organised crime unit for southern Wales, first identified Abramowicz was targeting children online in the Gwent and south Wales areas. Abramowicz created sophisticated fake profiles to pose as a 13 year-old girl, enticing children to commit sexual acts using popular mobile phone applications such as snapchat and Instagram.

Officers from Tarians Under-Cover On-line team established Abramowiczs identity and that he was regularly travelling between south Wales and Poland.

Detective Inspector David Bancroft of Tarian said: This case demonstrates the importance of the strong working partnership between Tarian and South Wales Police and our priority in protecting children.

Tarian passed the information to the South Wales Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) who immediately arrested the defendant at his place of work.

A complex and thorough investigation conducted by detectives from the POLIT led to an early guilty plea and todays sentence.

Detective Inspector Bancroft added: Tackling online child sexual exploitation is a national priority for law enforcement and we are pursuing more offenders and safeguarding more children than ever before. All children identified were provided with support from specially trained officers from South Wales Police.

The police alone cannot stop the demand for child abuse images and more needs to be done to prevent abuse in the first place.

Further work is needed to reduce the availability of imagery, provide support to people with an inappropriate sexual interest in children and to raise levels of understanding around the risks of taking and distributing indecent images of children.