Latest Offenders

Description

A County Durham sex offender has been hauled back to court after police found out he'd been deleting his internet history.

Trent Jason Johnson was given a suspended sentence in March last year after being convicted of sex offences and was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and was put on the sex offenders register. As part of his punishment, the 22-year-old must abide by certain conditions and he is banned from deleting his internet history.

But on November 8 this year, police went to Johnson's Bishop Auckland home and seized his iPhone where examinations found he'd deleted his internet history and had created aliases on chat apps but failed to notify the authorities about them. He was then arrested over the breach.

Johnson, of South View, Bishop Auckland, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for breaching a sexual harm prevention order and breaching notification requirements. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.

David Robinson-Young, prosecuting, said Johnson is a registered sex offender and on November 8, police went to his home. He said: "On entering his bedroom the defendant was in bed and they saw a lead going under the pillow. They pulled the lead and retrieved an iPhone and the Yubo app was displaying as live. The phone was seized and he was arrested."

Johnson's phone was examined and it became "clear" to police that he had been accessing sites, despite the device's internet having no history. Johnson is prohibited from using a device capable of accessing the internet unless it can show the history, the court heard.

Mr Robinson-Young told the court that Johnson admitted deleting his internet search history, saying: "He said he felt embarrassed about his porn searches." Johnson also admitted creating usernames on the Yubo chat app, including Memphis21, but failed to disclose them to police.

The court heard that the incident was Johnson's second breach of his order, with 18 months of his suspended sentence being activated in September last year after a breach last August. He appeared at the court via link from HMP Durham.

Stephen Constantine, defending, said: "The only mitigation are his guilty pleas entered in the magistrates'. In police interview he was assisted by an appropriate adult and at the age of 14 he was diagnosed with learning difficulties." Mr Constantine added that Johnson was engaging with mental health organisations and shows "some degree of immaturity".

Sentencing Johnson, Recorder Ian Mullarkey said it was "serious offending" and handed him an 18 month prison sentence.

Description

A SEX offender jailed in 2020 for abusing and filming a seven-year-old child has admitted to further crimes committed in Inverclyde during a 27-year period.

Alfred Brown's sordid additional offences came to light while he was serving time for historical abuse against a young girl in Largs, Greenock Sheriff Court was told.

Brown, 64, took, made and had possession of indecent photographs of children on various occasions at an address on Farquhar Road in Port Glasgow between November 1993 and December 2020.

It is understood that a camcorder was used by him during the commission of the offences.

His crimes in Largs spanned a 16-year period.

Sheriff Michael Higgins has called upon prosecutors to supply more information for a narrative of the facts in the Port Glasgow case before proceeding to sentence Brown, who has now moved to Clydebank.

The decision comes after the sheriff was provided with a victim impact statement.

Sheriff Higgins said: "There is no named individual either in the narrative [of the facts] or in the charges, so I have no way of knowing if this person [who submitted the impact statement] is involved in the charges.

"I don't think that the Crown narrative is sufficient in detail.

"On that basis I'm going to continue these matters for this to be addressed.

"I think that is essential."

Brown was jailed at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in August 2020.

The pervert — who is a musician — featured in the pages of the Telegraph's sister paper, the Largs News, in 2011 after joining band called 'The Sharps' and was known locally as Alfie Brown.

He used filming equipment to record his young victim and repeatedly compelled her to expose her underwear to him.

Brown also captured footage of the primary school pupil while she was asleep and while he indecently touched her.

As well as 17-month prison term backdated to March 2020, he was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

His lawyer, Paul Keenan, said: "During his period of imprisonment police found more, previously unseen, footage and this was due to the scale of the investigation."

Sheriff Higgins has deferred sentence on Brown and continued the case for a proof in mitigation to address the victim impact statement matter until December 19.

Description

A DANGEROUS paedophile who has already spent the last 12 years behind bars has today been jailed for a further nine years for more “wicked” child abuse.

Back in 2010 child rapist Selby Wardle, now 71, was given a “life” sentence, with a minimum of six years, under the imprisonment for public protection legislation, but Bradford Crown Court heard today that he had been refused parole on a number of occasions and had subsequently spent double that time in custody.

Prosecutor Andrew Petterson explained that in 2017 when Wardle was applying for parole again, further allegations were made against him.

A police investigation was launched and Wardle, who is currently in HMP Hull, initially branded the new allegations as “all lies”, but he eventually pleaded guilty to three further sexual abuse charges involving young children, who must not be identified for legal reasons.

Mr Petterson outlined details of the historic abuse and Judge Colin Burn described one particular offence as one of the most wicked forms of the offence that he could think of.

In victim impact statements the complainants described how Wardle’s abuse had ruined their lives and left them suffering nightmares.

One complainant said: ”This man has made my life hell and even locked away he still is.”

Judge Burn said the effects of the abuse had been “profound and appallingly destructive” on the quality of life of the complainants.

Judge Burn said Parole Board reports indicated that right up until the beginning of this year Wardle still represented a high risk of harm to children.

He said the nine-year jail term for the sexual offences would start from today and Wardle would have to serve at least two-thirds of that sentence.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Bainbridge, who led the investigation, praised the "incredible courage and bravery" of the victims and added: "I would encourage anyone who has suffered any sort of abuse either recent or historic to come forward and speak to police. You will be listened to and given the help and support you need.

"We have specially trained officers who will work tirelessly to bring any perpetrators to justice.” 

Description

A pensioner sexually assaulted a woman while she was asleep after he had taken cocaine and cannabis. The woman woke to find herself naked and the man touching her.

Huw Thomas, 72, of Cardiff, was found guilty of sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court. The court heard he attended a house in Penarth in 2020, where he drank alcohol, took drugs.

He entered a bedroom where the victim, a young woman, was lying in bed and went on to sexually assault her. The victim later called the police and Thomas was arrested but he claimed the woman was awake as well as instigated and consented to the sexual acts.

Thomas, of Cae Syr Dafydd, Canton, told police in his interview he had penetrated the victim with his fingers, which the victim was not aware of at the time of the offence. He continued to claim his innocence at trial but was found guilty of both the charges he faced. 

Sentencing, Recorder John Philpotts said: "The jury convicted you of two serious sexual offences against a young female. You drank alcohol, took cocaine and smoked cannabis. You entered a bedroom occupied by your victim.

"She awoke to find you touching her vagina as she lay naked in bed. You also, unbeknownst to her, digitally penetrated her. She reported the matter to police and you were arrested. In your interview by police, you claimed that what you had done was with the consent and the instigation of your victim.

"You maintained that account at trial but the jury rejected it and from reading the pre-sentence it's clear you still refuse to accept your guilt."

The court heard Thomas had some previous convictions but not related to sexual offences. In mitigation, defence barrister Susan Ferrier said her client had been described as "decent, honest, polite, helpful and a man of conviction" by those that knew him. She said at the time of the offence, Thomas was in a depressive state and recognised he had a drinking problem.

Ms Ferrier said: "He maintains his position it was his belief she was awake but the jury rejected this." She said the offence was "opportunistic" in nature, and described the defendant as a "family man".

Thomas was sentenced to a total of two years imprisonment. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements for 10 years.

Description

 A judge questioned why the Crown Prosecution Service had charged a paedophile with a lesser charge – when the more serious one was seemingly made-out.

Recorder Paul Reid told prosecutor Honor Fitzgerald it could be seen as ‘potentially inadequate’ that a convicted paedophile who tried to meet a 13-year-old ‘girl’ in a hotel for sex was only charged with attempting to incite a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity.

Dealing with Sean Attenborough for his third set of sex convictions in seven years, the judge said: “Perhaps you could communicate to the Crown Prosecution Service my remarks about this because it seems to me that the charge is or could be described as potentially inadequate.”

He added: “I’ve come across many cases like this. This is one of the very worst and it’s also the first in my experience [where] the undercover police officer has actually spoken on the telephone to the defendant.”  

Earlier, the court heard that Attenborough was subject to a suspended prison sentence, imposed in January, when he began talking to what he thought was a young woman on chatroom website Chatiw. He asked her if she liked ‘older men’.

Their conversation moved to the Snapchat app, when the ‘girl’ told Attenborough she was actually 13 years old.  

She was, in fact, an undercover police officer patrolling the net to catch would-be paedophiles.

Attenborough was firmly caught in the officer’s net. He repeatedly asked for pictures of herself with her ‘onesie’ pyjamas unzipped to her waist.

He encouraged her to perform sex acts on herself, offered to send images of his naked genitalia and repeatedly talked about meeting in a hotel to have sex with her.

Unusually in such investigations, the defendant and the ‘girl’ also spoke on the telephone.

Attenborough, of no fixed address, was arrested in September. His devices were analysed and he was found to have a small number of indecent images of children.

By using the digital kit, which had not been registered with the police, to contact a supposed child he was in breach of a sexual harm prevention order imposed earlier this year.

He pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court in September to breaching his sexual harm prevention order, attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity and .

A pre-sentence report compiled by the probation service was described by the judge as ‘very damning’. Attenborough was regarded as posing a ‘high risk of causing serious harm’.

Mitigating, Dana Bilan said her client had not yet started the sex offender treatment programme – Horizon – when he was arrested in the autumn.

The father-of-two grown up children was said to be ‘realistic’ and understood the sentence could only be an immediate custodial one.

Recorder Reid jailed him for a total of 44 months, including activating an earlier eight month sentence.

Description

A sex offender subjected a woman to a horrific ordeal and used "power, control and humiliation" during an “appalling” incident.

Stephen Miller had been regularly watching pornography before launching his degrading sexual attack on her and he ignored her pleas for him to stop, Grimsby Crown Court heard.

Miller, 43, admitted two offences of sexual assault, committed in the Grimsby area. The matters were originally due to be decided by a jury at a trial but he pleaded guilty on the second day of it.

A sex offender subjected a woman to a horrific ordeal and used "power, control and humiliation" during an “appalling” incident.

Stephen Miller had been regularly watching pornography before launching his degrading sexual attack on her and he ignored her pleas for him to stop, Grimsby Crown Court heard.

Miller, 43, admitted two offences of sexual assault, committed in the Grimsby area. The matters were originally due to be decided by a jury at a trial but he pleaded guilty on the second day of it.

A sex offender subjected a woman to a horrific ordeal and used "power, control and humiliation" during an “appalling” incident.

Stephen Miller had been regularly watching pornography before launching his degrading sexual attack on her and he ignored her pleas for him to stop, Grimsby Crown Court heard.

Miller, 43, admitted two offences of sexual assault, committed in the Grimsby area. The matters were originally due to be decided by a jury at a trial but he pleaded guilty on the second day of it.

"He needs to address his behaviour. There have been no further offences. He has reduced his alcohol intake. Alcohol was a factor in this offending." Miller had his own home improvement and maintenance business. He had a previous conviction for drink-driving.

Judge Michael Fanning told Miller: "This is not about sexual gratification. This is about power, control and humiliation and nothing else. It's more serious for that. She felt degraded, humiliated and embarrassed.

"You were telling her that she deserved it. Although she repeatedly told you to stop doing this, it went on. Power, control and humiliation, that's what you wanted to inflict on your victim.

"You realise that your behaviour was wrong. You have expressed disgust, behaving in the way you did. Your victim challenged you to stop and you carried on."

Miller, of Kel Dennis Close, Eston, Middlesbrough, was jailed for two years and five months. He was given an indefinite restraining order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Description

A DEPRAVED Isle of Wight man who served in the RAF and as a firefighter and special police constable, has been put behind bars after he set up hidden cameras and filmed females in states of undress.

Andrew Taylor, of Woodside Close, Northwood, appeared before an Isle of Wight Crown Court judge today (Tuesday) to learn his fate, having already admitted six counts of voyeurism and one count of taking indecent images of a child.

The charges relate to incidents between December 31, 2018, and January 23 last year.

Taylor was arrested, after an operation he set up came to light, in which he covertly installed cameras in places to film females in various states of undress, said James Kellen, prosecuting.

The 59-year-old, learning police had been informed, retrieved all his electronic filming devices prior to his arrest.

In interview, Taylor was candid about his activities exceeding what was known to detectives.

He secretly filmed females, who included a teenager, and said he viewed the footage for his own sexual gratification.

A great bulk of the 75 Category C moving images, of three victims, and a still image, were stored on one memory card, Mr Kellen said.

"He never showed the images to anyone. He said that would be weird," Mr Kellen added.

One of the female victims, a teenager, described how the thought of being filmed over a protracted time period had made her paranoid, isolated and prone to panic attacks, for which she has sought therapy.

"I want him locked up. I want his reputation demolished," she said in her victim statement.

In another victim statement, a woman described Taylor's actions as depraved, diabolical and despicable, and branded him a paedophile and a monster.

She said knowing what Taylor did left her broken and in a dark place.

She suffered a nervous breakdown and had wanted to take her own life eventually moving off the Island.

The victim concluded her statement with a plea to the judge: "Please don't let him harm anyone else."

Taylor, with no previous convictions, had served 12 years in the RAF, together with service as a firefighter and special police constable.

For Taylor, Berenice Mulvanny said her client showed remorse and said his shame and guilt "would live with him forever".

Miss Mulvanny said Taylor could not understand the cause of his offending behaviour, but added being caught was a relief to him.

Taylor was imprisoned for 40 months and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the rest of his life.

When sentencing Taylor, the judge, Recorder Malcolm Gibney, told him: "Your conduct was nothing short of despicable. It was calculated and deliberate.

"The nature of the offending is so grave, and the impact so severe, it will live with the victims for years."

Description

A 'predatory' paedophile sent a sexually explicit picture of himself to an undercover copper posing as a schoolgirl. Kevan Rose was caught after he sent a picture of his genitals to someone he believed to be a 12-year-old child.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that the 34-year-old, of Percy Street, Hanley, spoke to the 'girl' in an online chatroom on the website Kik under the usernames Daddy K and Open-MindedDaddy88. He also engaged in sexual chat with the decoy.

Prosecutor Anthony Longworth said: "The undercover operator had set up a false profile for a 12-year-old child. On August 10, 2021, the defendant, using the names DaddyK, Chris and the Kik ID OpenMindedDaddy88, made contact saying he was a 33-year-old man, from Stafford, and said his name was Chris on the instant messenger platform in a chat room known as a channel.

"On August 12, 2021 the defendant was told he was chatting with a 12-year-old female child. After being made aware of the apparent age, the defendant sent a picture of his erect penis and confirmed the photo was himself.

"He began some sexual chat and stopped when he suspected that the other profile was not real. It was established that the account was registered to this defendant in his flat on Percy Street, in Hanley, and the phone number was found to belong to the defendant.

"He was arrested on October 5, 2021 and re-arrested in respect of other matters on that date. His phone was seized from him and this phone was examined and found to be on it was an image of an erect penis that was the same as that sent to the undercover operator."

Rose is currently serving a two-and-a-half year sentence for breaching a sexual risk order; failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register; and doing an act intending to pervert the course of public justice.

He pleaded guilty to failing to comply with notification requirements and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. Deputy Circuit Judge David Fletcher adjourned the case for sentencing on December 2.

DC Nathalie Connolly, of Staffordshire Police's Sex Offender Management Unit, previously described Rose as a 'deceitful and predatory paedophile who knows no boundaries'. She added: "His grossly offensive and abhorrent fantasies involving sexual acts with children have impacted and traumatised many innocent people."

Description

A SERIAL sex offender from Tavistock exposed himself in the centre of Plymouth by wearing trousers with peep-holes cut into their front and back.

Shane Turner walked past shoppers with everything on show through the gaps in his specially adapted trousers.

The 51-year-old had been to the probation meeting as part of a suspended jail sentence for stalking a psychologist who had tried to treat his bizarre sexual behaviour.

CCTV showed him cycling around the city centre and police were alerted and spotted that there was a large cut or rip in his trousers.

He had a history of exposing himself and has been jailed in the past for stalking. He was meeting probation earlier this year because he was being supervised under a suspended sentence for breaking a restraining order.

He was also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which banned him from wearing clothing that were designed or adapted to show his private parts.

Turner admitted two charges of breaching the Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was jailed for 13 months at Plymouth Crown Court.

He has also been convicted of outraging public decency in 2006 after he exposed himself to lone women at night in Exeter, once by a graveyard.

And since then been in court for driving a car while naked. He was also seen driving around with an inflatable doll in his car but was not charged with any offence.

A defence advocate said Turner’s offending stemmed from his severe autism and issues of poor mental health.

Description

A PERVERT has been locked up after performing a sex act on himself in plain sight of two young girls.

Jamie Scott looked directly at the teenagers as he exposed his penis within close proximity of a children’s play area in broad daylight.

The 35-year-old tried to minimise his actions and denied the offence, telling the courts how he was simply urinating in public.

However, a jury saw through his bluff and he was convicted of exposure and breaching his sexual harm prevention order, and he appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, November 18.

In summing up the facts of the case, judge Gary Woodhall explained how the offences occurred on the afternoon of May 17 this year.

Scott exposed his penis and performed a sex act on himself in Sankey Valley Park at around 3pm in plain sight of two young teenage girls.

The court heard how it was committed on a sunny day in a location frequented by children and dog walkers, as well as being near a children’s play area.

The defendant was looking directly at the girls while committing the sexual offence, and when they tried to film him to get evidence of the incident, he ran away.

Following his identification and arrest, he gave no comment to police during his interview.

In impact statements, one of the girls said she is reminded of the incident every time she walks through the park and how she is anxious and nervous when out alone.

She added that she no longer feels safe in public on her own and that the incident has affected her friendship with the other victim, who said the same. 

 The second girl spoke of her anger and frustration following the incident, which also made her no longer feel safe on her own.

Prosecutor Francis Dillon told the court how Scott tried to plead guilty on the basis that he exposed his penis to urinate rather than cause alarm or distress to other people in the vicinity.

This was rejected by the crown, which stated that his intention was to shock and receive sexual gratification from his actions.

The matter went to trial and Scott was convicted by a jury. The court heard how he is deemed to pose a high risk of committing sexual offences and that he continues to deny his guilt.

Mr Dillon revealed that the defendant has four previous convictions for nine offences, including spells in prison for previous exposure incidents and breaches of his sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements.

In defence of his client, Simeon Evans asked the court to suspend the inevitable prison sentence, pointing to the fact that he has already served six months in prison on remand.

He also spoke of how Scott, a trained engineer, has never had the benefit of any programmes to address the issues behind his offending, which was described as a ‘compulsion’.

Before sentencing, judge Woodhall said: “There is an entrenched pattern of you exposing your penis in public for your own sexual gratification.

“I am perfectly satisfied that this offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.”

Scott, of Arpley Street in the town centre, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

His sexual harm prevention order will continue to run, and he must abide by sex offender notification requirements for 10 years. 

Description

A South Yorkshire pensioner who raped a young child may die in jail after victims finally told their stories to police.

Clive Nuttall, aged 79, from Catcliffe, near Sheffield, was jailed for nine years this week after pleading guilty to multiple child sex abuse charges, including the rape of a child under 13, with the police officer who led the investigation saying there is a chance Nuttall may spend the rest of his life in prison.

Nuttall’s offending came was revealed after one of his two victims – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – told the police that he had been sexually abused as a young boy. As officers investigated, a second victim came forward and reported numerous sexual offences committed by Nuttall against her while she was a child.

Investigating officer in the case Simone Stacey from South Yorkshire Police’s Rotherham’s Protecting Vulnerable People (PVP) team said: “Nuttall’s victims have shown tremendous courage and strength of character coming forward and reporting the awful abuse they suffered as children.

“While Nuttall did plead guilty to his crimes, and there is a chance he may spend the rest of his life in prison, this news will do little to erase the harm he caused to two vulnerable children with his sick sexual offending.

“Their childhoods were taken from them, and their lives forever changed by his abuse. I am so grateful to the victims for the resilience and dignity they have shown throughout our inquiry and hope that now Nuttall is behind bars they are able to take a step forward in their journey of recovery.”

Nuttall, formerly of Church Lane, Catcliffe, pleaded guilty to 13 sexual offences including one count of rape of a child under 13, five counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of assault by penetration of a child under 13, two counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and three counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13.

He was sentenced to nine years in prison at Doncaster Crown Court on Thursday November 17, as well as receiving a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, designed to prevent future offending.

Description

Daniel Mould targeted three females, including one victim twice, during rush hour.

A warped law student who exposed his genitals and performed a sex act at random young women on the street has been spared jail.

Since Daniel Mould, 21, flashed at the three women, incuding one victim twice, he quit his university programme and started working at McDonald's. A court heard CCTV captured Mould target the young women as they walked through the Shieldfield area of Newcastle, during rush hour.

The defendant then looked behind after the women walk passed to see what their reaction was.

Mould's lewd behaviour was reported to police who arrested the young man, and he appeared at Newcastle Magistrates' Court last week.

He was given a three-year community order and must sign the Sex Offenders' Register after he pleaded guilty to four counts of exposure.

Sentencing Mould, District Judge Paul Currer said: "The way you behaved to them was truly appalling. What's also very concerning is that, once you have exposed yourself, you watch for a reaction. It's also concerning that you have no recollection."

The defendant was living in halls of residence at the time of the offences, Chronicle Live reports. The crimes happened near the university accommodation in November last year.

James Long, prosecuting, said: "CCTV footage shows the defendant walking towards the camera.

"He approaches the camera and a female and removes his penis from his tracksuit bottoms as the female approaches. She walks passed him as the exposure takes place. He's only about 2m away from her when he does this. After she's walked passed, he pulls his waistband back up and turns to look back to see if there's a reaction. She kept walking."

The court heard that, moments later, Mould targeted his second victim by exposing his genitals and performing a sex act as he walked towards her. Just seven days later, the pervert flashed at the same woman as she walked down a street.

Mr Long added: "The victim immediately recognised the defendant from the previous time. On the same day, the final victim was walking near the Heaton area and she sees a male walking alongside her. He lifts his shorts and reveals his genitals."

Mould, who now lives in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, has no past convictions, had no recollection of any of the incidents but claimed to have been suffering from acute anxiety at the time.

Neil Connell, defending, said Mould, who has been in relationship for three years, had suffered a serious head injury in the past but it wasn't a case of him experiencing "sexual urges he couldn't control". He has also sought help from a GP since being arrested.

As well as the community order, Mould must also pay £200 in compensation to each victim.

Description

Nathan Wing, aged 28, met the girl on-line using a false name and later initiated thousands of sexualised social media conversations.

Aware that his victim was only 12-years-old at the time, Wing enticed her to send him a series of sexually explicit images. He also arranged to meet her in person on multiple occasions.

Police traced the phone used by Wing and arrested him in January last year.

A forensic examination of the device uncovered a series of similar exchanges with two other teenage girls.

Officers also uncovered evidence of numerous sexually explicit internet searches relating to young girls.

Wing, formerly of Newark, refused to answer any questions posed to him by officers but later admitted to a total of 11 sexual offences, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 11 November, Wing was jailed for eight years and ordered to spend another four on licence because he is classed as a dangerous offender.

When he is eventually released Wing will be the subject of a sexual harm prevention order which will place significant restrictions on his life.

Detective Constable Stacey Hardstaff, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Wing is a manipulative sex offender who poses a significant danger to young girls. He knew exactly what he was doing and had absolutely no care for the very significant harm he was causing.

“His depravity has had a profound impact on his victims and their families and I am pleased he has now been held accountable by the courts.

“This is a very significant jail sentence that should serve as a warning to anyone else thinking of behaving in a similar way.”

Description

A "monstrous" couple raped and sexually abused a young girl despite her crying and protestations. They convinced her their treatment of her was "normal" and repeatedly took advantage of her.

David and Kim Crapper, of Barry, reached levels of "depravity" in their abuse of the child, who is not named for legal reasons. The offences came to light when the victim told a friend about the husband and wife's behaviour and they were arrested by police.

Sentencing the pair, Judge David Wynn Morgan said: "It's hard to think of a more monstrous (offence)." A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard the abuse began when she was very young and went on for years.

In her interview to police, the victim said when she told David Crapper, 38, "no" he became angry and accused her of "leading him on" and told her he could be put in prison. He told her to sit on his lap, that he "got hard" while cuddling her and she saw him touching himself. He later touched her and made her touch him, and showed her pornography.

The victim said: "I was confused by what he was saying and felt disgusted." The abuse escalated to David Crapper raping the victim and this happened repeatedly. David Crapper later told his wife about the abuse, who and "wanted to join in too."

Kim Crapper, 39, started to sexually abuse the victim by touching her, was present when David Crapper raped the victim and had sex with her husband in front of the victim.

The Crappers were arrested by police after the victim reported the couple. David Crapper admitted raping and sexually abusing the victim. Kim Crapper also admitted abusing the victim. The defendants, of Queen Street, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child under 13, sexual assault, cause/incite a child to engage in sexual activity, and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. David Crapper also pleaded guilty to rape and causing a child to watch a sexual act.

Susan Ferrier, for David Crapper, said there was "little" to say in mitigation for her client. She said he had admitted the offences and had prevented the victim from having to give evidence. She said Crapper had "fallen into distorted thinking patterns" and would have found it difficult to "call time" on the abuse had the victim not contacted the police.

Ruth Smith, for Kim Crapper, said her client was in a "controlling, toxic and abusive relationship" and felt "powerless and helpless". She said Crapper was manipulated by her husband who "drew her" into committing the abuse. She conceded that the victim would "never get over" the actions of the defendants.

Judge Wynn Morgan said the physical harm caused to the victim was "incalculable" and both the defendants had "failed to exhibit true remorse". He sentenced David Crapper to 17 years imprisonment, with an extended four years on licence. Kim Crapper was sentenced to six years imprisonment, with an extended licence of three years. Both will serve two thirds of their sentence before being considered for parole. The defendants were made subject to sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.

Description

Described as a "predatory paedophile", David Spence indecently assaulted three children in the 1980s and 1990s in the Spennymoor area.

His sickening crimes left his victims - who are now adults - battling mental health issues and Spence managed to avoid the consequences of his offences for decades.

After the 67-year-old's crimes were brought to the attention of the police for a second time, he continued to deny the allegations until he finally pleaded guilty on the day his trial was due to take place.

In a victim impact statement, one victim told the court that they have suffered with "low self-esteem" and "night-terrors" throughout their adult life as a result of what Spence did to them.

They regularly have "full blown panic attacks" and "struggle with paranoia", they said in the statement.

Spence, was jailed for 10 and a half years with a 12-month extended licence and he was also made subject of a restraining order, which will run until further order.

He was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order, which will remain in place until further order and he was put on the sex offenders' register.