Search the database
clearly and quickly

Description

A heavy-drinking pervert who was caught by online paedophile hunters on two separate occasions was suddenly confronted at Hull railway station after he arrived there to meet what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Lee Whitelam, who had regularly been drinking two or three litres of cider a day, thought that the non-existent girl was travelling up from Gloucester to meet him for sex. But he got a nasty shock when he was detained by the online safety group and the encounter was live-streamed on Facebook.

He pleaded with the paedophile hunters not to alert the police, having already been duped with a fake 13-year-old girl during a previous incident, Hull Crown Court heard. Whitelam, 40, of Harley Street, off Beverley Road, Hull, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

Eleanor Mitten, prosecuting, said that the earlier incident happened after an online child protection group set up the profile of a fake 13-year-old girl. She was contacted by Whitelam in May 2022 and the messages quickly became sexual.

The non-existent girl sent a clothed picture supposedly of herself and Whitelam replied: "Nice body you have – and assets." He asked her for more pictures and he told her: "Shame you're 13 because would love to get naughty with you."

Whitelam repeatedly suggested meeting and asked whether she was willing to have sex. "The defendant spoke about what he would do if she came round," said Miss Mitten. Whitelam continued to make references to sexual activity.

The second set of offences happened from January 27 this year when Whitelam sent a friend request to a decoy profile of a 14-year-old girl, which was also set up by an online vigilante group. She accepted and messages were exchanged.

She said that she was 14 and he at first sent non-sexual pictures, but he later sent an explicit picture of himself and asked her: "Can I join you and keep you warm, babe?" Whitelam joked about "naughty pics lol".

Arrangements were made for her to visit him in Hull from where she was supposedly living in Gloucester. "He told her that she could stay with him," said Miss Mitten. He said that he would buy beer or cider for her visit and he made references to them having sex. He told her: "A couple of ciders may help you, lol."

Arrangements for her to travel to Hull were made on February 3 and Whitelam told the fake girl: "Just don't say nothing because I don't want to go to jail, lol."

They were due to meet at Hull railway station at 1.45pm and Whitelam sent pictures of himself to the girl so that she would know what he looked like. The online protection team detained him at a Costa Coffee shop in the station and they walked him out of the area.

Whitelam claimed that he was just going to take the girl shopping. "The incident was live-streamed on Facebook," said Miss Mitten. Whitelam denied having any sexual interest in children and he pleaded with the four members of the online group not to telephone the police as he had a suspended prison sentence.

His backpack was removed and two bags of cannabis were found inside it. During police interview, he made no comment to all questions.

Whitelam was in breach of three suspended sentences, including one of 14 months suspended and another of four months suspended. They had been imposed in November 2021 for possessing a knife and threatening behaviour. He also breached a 10-month suspended sentence made in 2020 for arson.

Description

A sex offender who called himself "Brian Robocop" has been jailed for breaching restrictions imposed on his use of electronic devices.

Brian Heron was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration in 2011 after being convicted of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. Since then he has breached the orders on a number of occasions.

Now the 67-year-old, of Claremont South Avenue, Gateshead, has been jailed at Newcastle Crown Court after he did it again by installing internet history-wiping software, having unregistered devices and bank cards and failing to log the fact he was using the pseudonym "Brian Robocop" online.

In February last year police went to his home and found he had installed a cleaner on his phone which is capable of deleting internet history, which he is forbidden from doing. Officers deleted the software but then subsequently found he had reinstalled it.

When police examined the device then found a message from him saying "getting laptop up and running today". He had not registered any laptop with the police, as he was required to do.

Heron also provided police with a mobile phone from under a mattress. And while in custody he was found to have two bank cards which he had not told police about, as he was supposed to.

When the phone was examined, it showed he was going by the name "Brian Robocop" and he had not logged that pseudonym with officers. The cleaner software was also on that phone.

In August last year, police went to his home to carry out checks and asked to see his phone. He handed over a Nokia device which he said he'd registered with police but checks showed he had not done so.

Heron said he forgot to register the bank cards but said he thought the cleaner software didn't delete his internet history and "simply cleaned the device".

He has 17 previous convictions, including indecent assault on a male youth in 1994, for which he got a probation order and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 13 in 2011, for which he got a community order. He was given a sexual harm prevention order for that and ordered to sign the sex offenders register.

For the latest offences, he pleaded guilty to breaching the sexual harm prevention order for the fifth and sixth time and breaching the sex offender notification requirements for the second and third time. He was jailed for 27 months by Judge Amanda Rippon.

The court heard he is in poor health with diabetes and mobility problems and he has spent more than six months in custody on remand, the first time he has been to prison, which he has found "horrific" and does not want to have to go back. His barrister said he "apologises profusely and accepts responsibility for his actions".

Description

A sex offender from Gravesend who targeted a child has been jailed for more than five years.

Terry Knott, 32, was jailed at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday 5 March 2024 after he admitted three charges of sexual activity with a child.

Knott was arrested in December 2023, after Kent Police received an allegation he had committed the offences over the preceding two months.

As well as being jailed for five years and three months, Knott was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.

Description

A child sex offender in Staffordshire has been locked up for more than two decades.

Robert Mold, aged 63, of Bridgtown, Cannock, was arrested in July 2020 after the survivors bravely came forward and told us what he had done.

The offences happened between 2016 and 2017.

Once the survivors came forward, we started work to gather evidence and take Mold to court. He was questioned by detectives in custody and charged with the offences despite originally denying what happened.

On 26 February, Mold was sentenced to 24-years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape of a child, two counts of sexual activity with a child and six counts of sexual assault of a child.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Detective Sergeant Sophie Boden, from our Child Protection and Exploitation Team said: Id like to recognise the immense courage and bravery that the survivors have shown throughout this investigation.

Mold is a truly dangerous man who has inflicted an immeasurable deal of anguish on the victims.

Officers and staff from our Child Protection and Exploitation Team (CPET) have worked tirelessly to secure this conviction, support the victims and put a dangerous sex offender behind bars for a very long time.

I hope this serves as an example to any survivors of rape and sexual assault that they will be listened to, no matter how recent the offences may have been. We want to relentlessly pursue sex offenders, put them before the courts and deliver the toughest punishment possible.

Description

A former Blackburn primary school teacher has been jailed for his role in a major probe into an international paedophile ring which spanned more than a decade.

Police swooped on the home of perverted William Chambers after they were notified by the National Crime Agency (NCA) about the arrest of a Belgian national, who was suspected of selling thousands of indecent images of children.

At Blackburn Magistrates Court in January, the court was told Chambers was tracked down after the arrested Belgian provided the NCA with the 60-year-olds phone number.

When police visited his home, in Weavers Court, Preston New Road, they found he had more than 1,500 indecent images of children on his devices.

Chambers, who was working as a teacher during the commission of the offences, pleaded guilty to possession of 166 of the most serious Category A images, 544 Category B images and 854 Category C images.

During his sentencing at Preston Crown Court on Thursday (March 7), it was heard Chambers had worked at Roe Lee Primary School in Blackburn between September 2020 and 2021, St James Primary School in Burnley between October 2021 and April 2022, and Lower Darwen Primary School between between 1999 and 2012.

The case involving the making of images and downloading of images onto a laptop which was then operated in such a way where images were moved to a hard drive and a TOR browser [software to enable anonymous communication] used.

On at least 15 occasions cleaning software was also deployed.

Prosecuting, Nicholas Flanagan told the court the NCA, in collaboration with Interpol, were investigating an international network of people suspected of abusing children worldwide.

The court heard the investigation started almost 20 years ago, with images taken of children being abused in a number of countries, including Vietnam, India, the Philippines, Morocco, Norway and Myanmar.

Suspects were identified in the UK, Netherlands, France, Canada and Norway, with six of the UK suspects now serving lengthy custodial sentences.

Some of the victims in the case are now adults, the court heard, with many of them coming forward to provide evidence to the NCA as part of the investigation.

Mr Flanagan said: Analysis of the Belgian national's devices found there were many people communicating regularly and sharing such images, which led to the identification of this defendant.

There is no evidence of this defendant sharing or distributing images though, he is only concerned with possession.

Mr Flanagan told the court Chambers had travelled extensively throughout his life, visiting India around 20 times, said to be part of his studies.

He had also visited the Balkan states on numerous occasions from the mid-1990s.

He was arrested on November 11, 2022, and his devices analysed where police found he had thousands of depraved and explicit images, both accessible and inaccessible to officers.

It was also discovered that he had purchased a virtual private network (VPN) in order to conceal his sordid activities, and had deployed software capable of wiping his history.

During his initial police interviews, Mr Flanagan said Chambers was evasive and selective with his answers even telling one officer, I must have had them [on my computer] otherwise you wouldnt have found them.

Some of the images he had in his possession included young south Asian boys as young as eight years old being abused by adult males.

Harriet Lavin, in mitigation for Chambers, said: He is 60-years-old now and recovering from colon cancer, is in remission and is incontinent.

He has missed several doctors appointments while hes been in custody, which is just over three weeks now.

He described his life as bleak. He has been isolated and suffered from depression and anxiety and being in custody is the first time hes been socialising with people except for online.

He is remorseful and is someone who wants to take advantage of the help that is on offer to him.

Chambers, who was of previous good character, was jailed for 20 months.

He had already been made subject to sex offender registration requirements at a previous hearing, with Judge Ian Unsworth KC imposing notification requirements on Chambers for a period of 10 years.

He was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and was barred from working with children and young people.

When he is released he will be on license and post sentence supervision.

Forfeiture and destruction of all devices was also ordered.

Judge Unsworth said: In summary you have admitted possession of 1,564 images. This occurred over a period of 11 years but its since been ascertained that you were in possession of the hard drive for five years.

You are a paedophile with a perverted sexual interest in young boys.

You worked at primary schools across Lancashire and must have undertaken these offences while being employed as such.

You were entrusted to care for young children and had safeguarding responsibilities towards them.

The schools and parents trusted you to be a proper person to teach but the evidence in this case shows you are someone who is sexually attracted to young boys, and you went to great lengths to satisfy those paedophilic desires by using dedicated software.

Downloading images perpetuates the problem and encourages the making of further indecent images.

These children might be further harmed by the knowledge of the perverted gratification that adults like you gained from looking at them, which they only came to realise as they got older.

This was an extremely thorough investigation by the NCA, but for their hard work your activities would have gone without detection.

Investigators established that the images on Chambers' devices were supplied over the dark web by a Belgian national who was part of the same group as Christopher Behn, from Essex, and John Thorogood, from London.

Both these men travelled to Asia and Africa respectively over several years to abuse vulnerable young boys.

Behn, from Essex, was jailed for 17 years in November, while Thorogood, from north London, was sentenced to more than seven years imprisonment in December.

Phil Eccles, operations manager at the NCA, said: Men like William Chambers help fuel the worldwide demand for child sexual abuse material, which in this case was supplied by a group who travelled across the globe to offend.

By obtaining this material he contributed to the re-victimisation of the children abused in these images.

Description

A Harrogate man has been jailed after sending explicit sexual images to someone he thought was a 12-year-old child.

Jason Carl Veal, 33, of Harewood Road, thought he was talking to a 12-year-old girl over a social media platform, but he was really talking to an undercover investigator.

In January 2023, Veal sent a friend request to the girl via SnapChat, and began sending explicit sexual videos of adults performing sex acts on themselves and encouraged her to do the same.

At one point he believed the girl was at school and encouraged her to use the toilets to carry out the sex acts.

He was arrested by officers a few weeks later and charged with the following offences to which he pleaded guilty:

• attempting to cause/incite a female child under 13 to engage in sexual activity penetration
• attempt to cause a child under 13 to watch/look at an image of sexual activity
• attempt to engage in sexual communication with a child.

He appeared at York Crown Court on Friday 1 March where he was jailed for 30 months. The court also ordered him to register with the police for an indefinite period and issued him with 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Constable Kirsty Sullivan, from our Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: Irrespective of who he was really talking to, he clearly believed he was communicating with a 12-year-old and that is of great concern to us. The language he used was disgusting and the images repulsive. The Online Child Abuse Investigation Team works proactively and sometimes covertly to identify those who pose a risk to children."

Description

A PAEDOPHILE who has a habit of exposing himself daubed in faeces on North Yorkshire beaches has been jailed.

Karl William Martin Fox will continue to commit sexual offences as long as he can, a judge has warned.

Claire Holmes, prosecuting, said the 51-year-old wanted a child to receive and “enjoy” several videos of him sitting naked or wearing a nappy at the seaside and to read his diary, York Crown Court heard.

A 14-year-old boy unwittingly found them and when he realised what they were told his mother: “It’s sick, it’s sick, I feel ill.” The police were informed.

Fox will now have his movements permanently monitored and have to undergo lie tests after he finishes his prison sentence.

He has previously served a six-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a child, been convicted of sending obscene messages to the Samaritans and several offences of breaching court orders designed to protect the public from him.

Judge Deborah Sherwin told him: “You are somebody who is likely to continue offending in this way as long as you possibly can."

Fox, formerly of Burton Stone Lane, Clifton, and now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to 15 breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and one each of possessing indecent images of children, possessing prohibited images of children and possessing pseudo images of children.

He was jailed for 28 months and will be on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.

The court order banned him from all beaches, promenades and contact with children and had conditions enabling police to monitor him.  

The judge made a new sexual harm prevention order including all the previous conditions and, against Fox's objections, adding conditions that on release he permanently wear an electronic tag monitoring his location and take any polygraphs ordered by the police.

She told Fox: “You appear to have no insight at all as to how dangerous and damaging your actions are towards other people.

"In these circumstances, the police and courts are entitled to do everything within their power to make sure other such offending cannot occur and if it does occur it can be properly tracked and prevented and/or prosecuted.”

Ms Holmes, prosecuting, said Fox filmed himself on North and East Yorkshire beaches exposing himself in an obscene pose or sitting wearing only a nappy and put a diary of his movements on a mobile phone which was then sold at a car boot sale.

The phone included a message to the potential buyer: “This phone has been left here for a young child to find and enjoy the images on it. Please give this phone to your young child.”

Fox told officers monitoring him he found the old order “draconian”.

He also said of his offending: "I will continue as long as I can walk."

Defence barrister Matthew Stewart said Fox had not been the seller at the car boot sale.

His bedsit in York had been broken into and damaged by people aware of his background.

He had a personality disorder and had self-harmed in the past. He also had post traumatic stress disorder dating back to his previous prison sentence and physical health issues caused by a car accident in his childhood.

While in prison on remand he had got a job working in prison gardens.

He supported close relatives who had major health problems.

Description

A 20-year-old man has been given an extended seven-year sentence and deemed a risk to the public after engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Tyrese Smith, of Grove Road, Romford, will serve a four year and eight month sentence in a young offenders’ institution, before he is subject to an extended period on licence of two years and four months.

This sentence follows his guilty pleas to all charges Essex Police secured against him, including three counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child.

He also admitted other charges secured by the Metropolitan Police in relation to sexual communications with a child and possession of indecent images of children.

Officers from the Child Abuse Investigations Team (CAIT), along with support from the Adult Sexual Abuse Investigation Team (ASAIT) and Grays Local Investigations Team had launched enquiries after concerns were raised over reported sexual activity between Smith and a child in the Tilbury area last year.

This also followed reports Smith had breached bail conditions imposed by the Met.
Smith was arrested on November 27 last year.

He was heard to make a significant comment when fleeing the victim’s address just hours before, voicing his fear he would be jailed for his offending.

Smith answered no comment to all questions asked of him in interview, but later admitted all charges at Basildon Crown Court.

Appearing at court for sentence on Wednesday February 28, he was also made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and requirements as a Registered Sex Offender, which will monitor his use of electronic devices and prohibit contact with children.

An indefinite restraining order will strictly prohibit further contact with the victim.

Description

A convicted sex offender who lived in a tent in woods got himself in hot water after he repeatedly failed to register his details with the police – because it was too far to walk.

Daniel Waddington was desperate to "remove" himself from society completely and lived "four miles from anywhere else". But he often could not be bothered "to tell the police where he was actually living".

He claimed that the reason that he sometimes did not go to the police station was because it was an hour to walk there and an hour to walk back, Hull Crown Court heard. Waddington, 29, of Lansdowne Road, Bridlington, admitted failing to comply with his notification requirements as a convicted sex offender and breaching a community order.

Michele Stuart-Lofthouse, prosecuting, said that Waddington had been convicted in March 2021 of three offences of making indecent images of children and he had been given a three-year community order, 30 days' rehabilitation and a 90-day sex offender treatment programme.

Waddington had been given a five-year sexual harm prevention order and had been ordered to register as a sex offender for five years. The offences involved him searching for "jailbait teens" and "school girls", as well as "young teen porn".

Waddington was homeless at the time of his conviction, but he had to tell police every seven days where he was living and where he could be found. He failed to do so on February 15 and 22 last year and, after that, his compliance was "sporadic" and he failed to notify his details on March 21 and 28 last year.

Waddington again failed to do so on April 10. He later told police that he understood the requirements but he had been homeless and this made it difficult to attend because he did not have transport and it was a long way for him to walk from where he was living, especially as he had a bad knee at the time.

Waddington admitted that he had received text messages from the police, but he had ignored them. He had breached the community order three times, missing appointments on August 22 and on September 12 and 18. "He has failed to attend since," said Miss Stuart-Lofthouse.

His overall compliance was "poor" and he had shown a lack of motivation, despite attempts by the probation service to be flexible. Waddington had attended only 86 of 140 appointments.

Harry Bradford, mitigating, said that the breaches were accepted by Waddington and they had been like a "Damocles sword" hanging over him. At the time, Waddington was homeless and suffering problems.

"He had removed himself from society as far as he could to get away," said Mr Bradford. "He lived in a wooded area in a tent four miles from anywhere else.

"To walk to the police station was an hour there and an hour back. Essentially, he buried his head in the sand. He was turning down support from professionals and he had removed himself as far as he could from society.

"Inch by inch, he has clawed his way back into society as best he can. He has stable accommodation for the first time in a long time. The person who did those breaches is not the same person who sits at the back of court.

"He had terrible compliance previously. He is trying to get his life back together. He is in a position to be engaging more with the probation service."

Waddington was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence and 15 days' rehabilitation. The sexual harm prevention order and the notification requirements will continue. Judge Tahir Khan KC told Waddington: "You haven't knuckled down and done the work you should have done."

Description

Christopher Kofi Taylor (26/12/1975) of Dorothy Street, Salford on Tuesday 5 March 2024 was sentenced to life imprisonment at Manchester Crown Court for four counts of rape of a female under 16, trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence, and section 47 assault after pleading guilty.

He will serve a minimum of 11 years and four months.

Officers were called to an address in Trafford just after 6am on Monday 23 August 2021, to reports a 15-year-old had been attacked in an isolated incident.

Description

A serial paedophile who was previously found in possession of a bottle of chloroform and roll of tape in his bag breached a court order after he was seen near a children's park. He was caught by a probation officer who had dealt with him on many occasions.

Christian John, 48, was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) banning him from being within 50 metres of a children's park. He was previously jailed for child sex offences, and was described as a "predator" by a judge.

A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Tuesday heard a senior probation officer was walking near Roath Park recreation fields in Cardiff last year. As she was walking along Ninian Road, the officer became aware of two men shouting and recognised a man sitting on a bench as the defendant.

Prosecutor Megan Jones said the officer had dealings with John, also known as John Davies, over many years and was aware of the SHPO he was subject to. She also saw the defendant was drinking alcohol, which had been a factor in his previous offences. She reported the matter to the police and John was arrested.

The defendant, of Mackintosh Place, Roath, later pleaded guilty to breach of a SHPO. The court heard he has 31 previous convictions for 47 offences, including 13 previous breaches of sexual offence orders.

• February 1996
  John is given a three-year probation order for indecently assaulting a boy.
• July 1996
  He breaches that order and is sent to a young offender institution for 18 months.
• February 1998
  The defendant is jailed for 21 months for grabbing a child, pulling him towards a wooded area and telling him: I want to shag you.
• April 2004
  John is jailed for 30 months for breaching a sexual offender order after being caught with a bottle of chloroform, syringe, roll of sticky tape, 10in knife, and camera in his bag.
• October 2006
  He is given a 12-month community order for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) by going within 15m of a school.
• September 2007
  The defendant is jailed for 12 months for breaching the SHPO four times by being in a play area and having alcohol.
• May 2008
  John is jailed for three months for another breach and possessing an offensive weapon.
• August 2008
  He is given a community order for breaching a restraining order.
• October 2008
  The defendant is jailed for 22 months for a further breach, this time being drunk and watching children in a park.
• January 2011
  John approaches a young child and whispers in his ear in a public place. He is caught with a knife and a camera.
• May 2011
  He is jailed for 75 days for four counts of making indecent images of children.
• March 2012
  He is jailed for two years for sexual assault after grabbing a boys wrist and trying to kiss him.
• September 2015
  He is jailed for two years for approaching an eight-year-old boy in the Mill Road park in Ely and saying: You come with me now.
  Judge Eleri Rees imposes a new order preventing him from going within 50m of any public recreational area in Cardiff as defined by a list of more than 300 areas.
• July 2017
  He is jailed for six months for breaching the SHPO in Roath Park.
• February 2018
  The order is amended to allow him nearer specific parks to help the Probation Service to find him accommodation.
• June 2018
  He is jailed for two years for loitering in Roath Park on a bike.
• August 2019
  John is sentenced to 16 months imprisonment after loitering at park in Tonyrefail, where children were playing rugby sevens

Description

A man from Crewe has been jailed after he admitted engaging in sexual activity with children.

Andrew Cork appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 1 March where he was sentenced to 11-years in prison.

The 53-year-old, of Verdin Court, Leighton, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in sexual communications with a child, two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity (no penetration) and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted one count of possession of indecent images of children and three counts of making indecent images of children.

The case against Cork began in May 2022 when officers from Norfolk Police contacted Cheshire Police to report that a man had been engaging in sexual communications with a 9-year-old child in Norfolk.

The man had been using a mobile telephone number which placed him in the Crewe area.

The investigation was undertaken by the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) at Cheshire Police and following further enquiries officers identified Cork as the suspect.

A warrant was conducted at his home on Thursday 14 July and Cork was arrested. Several electronic devices were also seized, including a laptop and two mobile phones.

During questioning Cork admitted that he had been engaging in sexually explicit communications with the child in Norfolk, he also told officers that there were indecent images of children on his devices although he denied being sexually attracted to children.

Cork was subsequently released on bail while further enquiries were undertaken, including analysis of all his electronic devices.

During the analyses officers discovered over 300 indecent images of children and more than 60 sexually explicit videos of children. Officers also discovered that he had also been engaging in sexual communications with an 11-year-old child in Birmingham.

Cork was later charged in relation to all the offences.

Description

Mark Richard Phillips of Forton Road was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 1 March.

The court heard that Phillips, who was subject to a SHPO, was arrested in August 2023 after concerns were raised about unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16 at his business premises on Forton Road, the Nurd Shop.

He suggested that as the door to the premises was open it was a public space, but the court saw his actions that had been reported to police were clearly a serious breach of his SHPO.

Offender Manager Mathew Lawn who investigated the case said: ”Thankfully no children were harmed by Phillips’ actions, however it was clear that by organising events for young children in his business premises which was clearly a breach of his SHPO, that he had no intention of following the conditions of the order.

“Police were alerted by concerned parents after their children reported suspicious comments and behaviours from Phillips when he was the only adult present.

“I’m pleased that the court has taken this breach so seriously. It brings reassurance for the local community and sends a clear message that anyone found to breaching the conditions of an order they are subject to will face a significant custodial sentence”.

Description

A "predatory sex offender" who raped and abused young girls has been jailed for 28 years.

Ian Neasham, 65, from Londonderry, North Yorkshire, conducted an "appalling catalogue of abuse" against three victims over an 11-year period.

He was convicted of 24 offences, including nine counts of rape, at Teesside Crown Court.

On Monday, he was told he must serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before being considered for parole.

Neasham's offences, which began in the 1990s, came to light in November 2020 when one of his victims confided in someone they trusted, which resulted in his arrest.

North Yorkshire Police said this resulted in two further victims coming forward.

Neasham's youngest victim was 10 at the time the abuse began.

Victim interviews, disclosures made to counsellors and searches of Neasham's home and digital devices enabled the force to bring 25 charges against him.

Neasham denied all the offences and was cleared of one count of indecent assault, but convicted of nine counts of rape, seven of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with a child.

He was also convicted of two counts of taking indecent photographs of a child, three counts of possession of indecent photographs of a child and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

In impact statements given during sentencing, his victims recalled how Neasham's behaviour had affected them.

One said Neasham "took advantage" of the trust she had for him and had meant her childhood was filled with "abuse and anger".

The victim recalled how she needed to tell someone what was happening but feared he would follow through with his threats to kill her if she did.

"I lost my innocence because of what he did to me," she said.

Another victim said her behaviour at home and school was affected by the ordeal.

"I felt angry, frustrated, and upset, like no-one cared and no-one could see why or what was happening to me," she said.

"I felt alone through it all, and I couldn't talk to anyone about it because of the threats he had made.

"He took my innocence and ruined my childhood. I felt petrified whenever I was around him."

A third victim described feeling "dirty and physically sick at times", during the abuse.

"I was terrified of him and what he would say about me or do to me because he was a violent man," she said.

"I was scared he would hurt me or someone else."

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con Gillian Gowling said: "Neasham is a predatory sex offender who was responsible for an appalling catalogue of abuse against vulnerable victims who he believed he could control, intimidate, and silence from speaking out about his despicable crimes."

She praised the victims' bravery and determination and said they had shown "incredible courage and strength".

"They have suffered in silence for many years, but I hope they can finally start to move forward and rebuild their lives knowing that Neasham is now rightfully behind bars where he belongs."

Neasham's prison sentence will be followed by a four-year extended licence and he has been placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Description

A man has been jailed for multiple sex offences committed against women, girls and boys.

Grant Wedlake, 32, of Felton, North Somerset, was found guilty of 12 offences in February, including the rape of a child under the age of 13.

He was also convicted for the possession and distribution of an indecent image and possession of extreme pornographic images.

He was sentenced to 21 years in prison at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.

First reported to Avon and Somerset Police in 2022, the offences, which date back to 2005 and were committed over a 16 year period, include multiple counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13, multiple counts of rape of a child under 13 and multiple other counts of rape.

In a statement read out in court, one of Wedlake's victims described feeling "guilty and ashamed" and said his actions had sent their "life off track."

'Road to recovery'

They said: "I hope that one day he will realise the effect he has had and feel bad about it himself, because at the moment I don't think he does."

Another one of his victims said their "main feeling towards him is one of sadness."

"I would like to say this to him: It is sad that you have chosen this path in life - to hurt, to manipulate and to intimidate.

"It's sad but you now have time and opportunity to change things, learn about yourself and to use this time to educate yourself about the effect someone like you has on their victims, family, friends and community."

They said every day was a "step along the road to recovery" and they hope "to be able to start to enjoy my life again."

'Ruined my childhood"

A third victim said they had "lived in secret" with what Wedlake had done to them, that he made them "feel that no one would believe" them and he had "not only ruined" their childhood but their "entire life".

"I will never forgive Grant for what he did to me," they added.

Investigating officer Ellen Rye, from Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Wedlake is a dangerous and manipulative man and I would like to take the opportunity again to praise the victims in this case for coming forward."

'We will listen'

"I know that his offending has had a profound impact on each of them and I hope that they can move forward, re-build their lives and finally take the opportunity to focus on themselves.

She urged anyone who is a recent or non-recent victim of sexual assault or rape to get in touch with the force.

"We will listen," she added.