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A man who raped an Exeter University student as she was asleep in bed has been jailed for eight years.

Adam Mohammed, 24, of New Bridge Street, Exeter, was found guilty of rape at a trial at Exeter Crown Court in June 2023.

The rape happened in student accommodation at the university campus in March 2021.

A university spokesperson said this was an extremely rare incident and that it was supporting the victim.

As well as praising the victim's courage, Det Con Alex Powe, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said there was "no place to hide" for "predatory men".

Mohammed will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life, the court heard.

Presiding over the sentencing, Judge David Evans said he was in no doubt that in March 2021, Mohammed had gone to the University in Exeter hoping to find a party where he would meet a woman.

The jury had heard how he had made sexualised comments during a night of socialising in the accommodation block.

Pushed him off

The victim went to bed at about midnight and left her door open so her friends could check on her as she was feeling unwell, the court was told.

Later that night, Mohammed entered the victim's bedroom and began raping her while she was asleep.

She woke up, pushed him off and ran to a friend's room, the court was told.

The student was so traumatised by what happened she moved out of her room.

Police said DNA linked to Mohammed, who denied the offence, was found on the victim's clothes.

Det Con Alex Powe, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "Mohammed took advantage of the victim while she was asleep.

"I am pleased that he will now serve a considerable amount of time in prison where he can no longer be a threat to women."I am incredibly grateful to the victim and her friends for the courage they have shown and their tenacity to bring this offender to justice."

Record details

A prolific sex offender breached his sexual harm prevention order by uploading indecent images to the internet via Snapchat and was found to have more than 800 indecent images of children.

Joshua Newton, 25, was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2017 along with a community order. He was then given a 13-month custodial sentence and had a 15-year SHPO in February 22 for breaching that order.

On April 22, 2023, after his release, Newton’s offender manager DC Harrison received information that Newton had uploaded indecent images via Snapchat.

He visited Newton’s address and the defendant handed over a mobile phone which, upon examination, showed a Snapchat page that had not been logged with police.

A further analysis of the phone, after Newton had been arrested, uncovered a TikTok account that had also not been registered.

Permission for Newton to access both of these apps had not been granted as they allow the user to delete data.

These accounts were registered using an email address that had not been given to the police.

That email address was also linked to two Google accounts, and the phone was found to contain access to a Mega cloud storage account.

Found within that account were more a total of 846 indecent images of children – 465 category A, 146 category B, and 238 category C, as well as three extreme pornographic images.

The Mega app where the images were located was found to be installed on the phone on January 23, 2023.

Sarah Gruffydd, prosecuting, said there were a “large number” of children depicted in the images though there was no evidence he had communicated with real children.

Anthony Horsfall, defending, said his client was under no illusions about the seriousness of his conduct.

He added Newton lived a “lifestyle of isolation” which was exacerbated by the pandemic and increased his “willingness to divulge in some of his interests.”

Judge Robert Altham, sentencing, said: “You are a persistent offender. So far you have shown no intention of complying with the orders made by the court and that is troubling.

“You have a persistent and enduring sexual interest in children such that you do pose a risk.

“Every one of these images of a child represents the abuse of a real living, breathing child somewhere.

“Each time you obtain one of these images you are encouraging people to abuse real living children.

“You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself for seeking to perpetuate that industry. You are going to have to learn you must abide by those orders otherwise the sentences are going to get longer and longer and you will spend much more of your young adult life in prison.”

Newton, of HMP Risley but whose last known address was Albert Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a SHPO, one count of failure to comply with notification requirements, three counts of making indecent images, and one count of possessing extreme pornographic images.

He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Record details

A Ceredigion sex offender has admitted a slew of breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and still faces a charge of making indecent images of children.

Ifan Evans, of Brynawel, Cross Inn, Llanon, appeared before Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 10 January.

The 36-year-old is accused of making two category C indecent images of a child in Ceredigion between 25 December 2021 and 27 May 2022.

No plea was entered on that charge at the hearing.

Evans did admit seven breaches of a sexual harm prevention order imposed on him for previous making and possessing indecent images offences by Swansea Crown Court on 30 May 2018.

He indicated a plea of guilty to breaching the order by creating and accessing a Telegram account between 23 November 2021 and 20 May 2022; creating and accessing an Instagram account between 5 June 2021 and 17 April 2022; creating a Discord account on 3 May 2022; using the Facebook Messenger app between 11 September 2021 and 30 April 2022; and using the Instagram and Messenger app between 13 September 2022 and 7 February 2023.

Evans also admitted a charge of failing to make his mobile phone available for inspection on 8 February 2023.

A charge of breaching the sexual harm prevention order by using an alias online between 11 September 2021 and 30 April 2022 was withdrawn and replaced by a charge of failing to comply with notifications requirement of the sex offender’s register for the same offence.

Evans indicated a plea of guilty to that offence.

Evans is next due to appear at Swansea Crown Court on 9 February for a trial and preparation hearing on the indecent images charge.

He will be sentenced on the other eight charges following any trial.

Evans was remanded on unconditional bail until that date.

Record details

A pervert from Dawlish has been jailed for amassing a huge collection of child abuse images and videos downloaded from the dark web. Paul Powell, 56, also set up a spy camera to secretly film a woman in a bathroom.

Police seized computers from his home and found he had been looking at more than 50,000 images and movies showing the sexual abuse of children. About 3,000 were in the most serious category showing the worst type of depravity.

The defendant, of Springfield Gardens, has been jailed for two years and four months. The judge said Powell had been heavily addicted to viewing porn online and the material became more extreme over time.

Prosecutor Mr Nigel Wraith said police traced an IP address linked to illegal downloads to Powell. They searched his property in February 2022 and took away a number of devices.

A pervert from Dawlish has been jailed for amassing a huge collection of child abuse images and videos downloaded from the dark web. Paul Powell, 56, also set up a spy camera to secretly film a woman in a bathroom.

Police seized computers from his home and found he had been looking at more than 50,000 images and movies showing the sexual abuse of children. About 3,000 were in the most serious category showing the worst type of depravity.

The defendant, of Springfield Gardens, has been jailed for two years and four months. The judge said Powell had been heavily addicted to viewing porn online and the material became more extreme over time.

Prosecutor Mr Nigel Wraith said police traced an IP address linked to illegal downloads to Powell. They searched his property in February 2022 and took away a number of devices.

Analysis showed a large number of indecent images of children "downloaded from an extremely secure dark web network," said Mr Wraith. There were 2,967 in Category A; 2,403 in Category B; and about 50,000 in Category C. He also searched Google looking for child abuse material, the investigation showed.Police also found footage from a spy camera he had bought. Powell saved footage showing a woman visitor using a shower. She had no idea she was being filmed.

The defendant pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent images of children, possessing extreme pornographic images and possessing prohibited images of a child.

Mr Warren Robinson, defending, said Powell was a man of previous good character who had sought help for his behaviour. He had tried to stop before but had slipped back into his deviant habits. He had not shared any of the images and is sorry.

Judge James Patrick made Powell subject to a sexual harm prevention order and told him to sign the sex offenders' register. Both for ten years.

Record details

Sick Joshua Mahoney was also found in possession of a “paedophile handbook”, a guide to avoid being caught out when downloading illegal images. Yet the 34-year-old, who was found to have more than 1,000 images and videos, continued to plead not guilty despite contacting a counsellor and confessing.

He was jailed for 28 months this week. Prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, Gareth Henderson-Moore said police attended Mahoney’s home address on Queen Street, Morley, on July 13, 2021, armed with a search warrant.

Intelligence had been passed to West Yorkshire Police that the IP address linked to his home was being used to download the illegal images. They arrested Mahoney and seized a Mac Book and computer hard drive.

Police found 817 category A images – depicting the most serious kind of abuse. Of them 113 were videos. There was also 430 category B images including eight videos, and 566 category C images including six videos.

In addition, they found 17 extreme pornographic images including people engaging in sexual acts with animals, and a dead baby. They also recovered the paedophile “manual”.

The court heard that Mahoney gave a no-comment interview to police, then continued to deny three counts of possessing indecent images, and one of possessing extreme pornographic images up until his trial at Leeds Crown Court had started in December last year.

However, he had bizarrely enrolled in the Safer Lives sex offending programme. Mitigating, Satpal Roth-Sharma said: “That’s his downfall in these proceedings. His saving grace is that he has admitted his wrongdoing in all of this, and admitted there is problem that needs addressing.”

She said it became an addiction and “a form of escapism perhaps” for Mahoney during lockdown.

Judge Ray Singh told Mahoney: “You stood there and uttered the words ‘not guilty’ when for two years you were admitting this to a counsellor. I have no understanding why on earth you pleaded not guilty. Some of the images have been described as being the most vile one could ever imagine.”

He put him on the sex offender register for 10 years and gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.

Record details

A previously registered sex offender who was caught performing a sexual act on himself in the presence of children in Peterborough city centre has been jailed.

Gary Smith, 50, who was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years in December 2013 after being convicted of indecent exposure, is subject of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) banning him from certain public areas.

Police were called at 2.15pm on 14 May by a member of the public in Peterborough Cathedral’s green area, reporting seeing a man watching children while performing a sexual act on himself.

A description of the man was given to officers who identified him as potentially being Smith, and immediately deployed to the area.

Smith had begun walking towards the St Johns Street area but returned to the cathedral grounds a short while later, prompting a further call to police reporting the man’s movements.

Officers found Smith hiding behind a gravestone, lying on the ground, and arrested him for indecent exposure and breaching a CBO.

In 2019, Smith was jailed for a year after being convicted of outraging public decency and was made subject of a ten-year CBO which states he must:

• Not go within 200 metres of a swimming pool or leisure centre
• Not go within 100 metres of any school or college
• Not attend areas of public parks or gardens

Smith, of no fixed address, appeared at Peterborough Crown Court today (Thursday) where he was sentenced to 19 months in prison after previously admitting outraging public decency and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order.

Record details

A 56-year-old cannabis addict who was high on cocaine and alcohol lured a 16-year-old girl back to his campervan after plying her with drink and drugs, before sexually assaulting her.

Neville Chapman, now 60, committed the terrifying crimes in Darwen in September 2019.

He was finally found guilty of assault by penetration following a trial in June 2023, which had been delayed multiple times, and was granted conditional bail by Judge Graham Knowles KC to appear for his sentence hearing in August.

However, Chapman, previously of Bridgefield Close, Rishton, failed to appear for his sentence hearing, which placed him in breach of bail, and instead, went on the run for almost four weeks.

Preston Crown Court heard his disappearance sparked a major manhunt by Lancashire Police, in which underwater search and rescue teams were deployed, and thousands of pounds spent on a campaign to find him.

When he was eventually apprehended in September 2023, he was charged with breach of bail, and a further charge of breaching his sex offender notification requirements imposed upon him by Judge Knowles at the completion of his trial and was remanded into custody.

The notification breach related to Chapman failing to tell the police he was no longer residing at Bridgefield Close, following an argument with his sister, whose home he was staying at.

On Thursday, January 11, Chapman was finally brought back before Judge Knowles to be sentenced for the crime he committed in September 2019.

The court was told that on September 16 that year, Chapman and others had been out drinking and taking drugs in Darwen.

At some time during the course of the evening, a 16-year-old girl joined him and his party, with Chapman plying her with double vodkas, and even cocaine, to the point where, as she described in her victim personal statement, she was “wasted”.

As the teenager became even more intoxicated, to the extent where she vomited in the toilets of a pub they were in, Chapman and his friends decided to leave so Chapman could “get more cocaine”.

They then went back to his campervan, with the girl being taken along with them.

The court heard the teenager was under the assumption Chapman would “give her a lift home”, but this never happened.

As the night wore on, and Chapman’s friends departed, he and his victim were left alone in his campervan.

Judge Knowles said: “You asked her, ‘do you want to go home or stay here with me’?

“Unsurprisingly, she said she wanted to go home but you drove your campervan, and then parked up and clambered into the back with her, where you tried to kiss her, pulled her top down and pulled her pants down.”

Judge Knowles told the court that the girl, “felt disgusted and tried to push him away before vomiting again”.

Undeterred, Chapman continued to try and undress her and then sexual assaulted her.

He continued: “She said she felt a tightness in her chest and couldn’t breathe.

“She eventually managed to push you off and got out and started walking away.”

At this point Chapman tried to follow the girl in his van, despite being intoxicated himself, until she turned down an alley and ran home.

The teenager told her mother what had happened, and the police were called, but when he was arrested, Chapman told officers: “Look at the size of her, if I wanted to rape her there would have been nothing she could do about it.”

Judge Knowles went on: “You are 60 now, and you have been a cannabis user for most of your life.

“You struck when she was isolated and alone with you in your van in the early hours, with little likelihood of anyone coming to her aid.

“You blamed her in your interview and blamed her outright for what happened.

“You pose a risk to young girls, and the sentence I give you must be an extended one.”

Chapman, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a bail act offence and breach of the sex offender notification requirements.

He was found guilty after trial of two counts of sexual assault - one by penetration, and was jailed for 10 years and eight months, with a three year extended licence period, giving a total extended sentence of 13 years and eight months.

He was also told to sign the sex offender’s register for life.

DS Mark Parrington, of the East Child Protection Team, said: “This was a particularly nasty offence committed against a 16-year-old girl while she was clearly in a vulnerable state.

“This offence has very much had an impact on her, made all the worse by Chapman forcing her to re-live her ordeal during a trial.

“We take all offences of this nature extremely seriously and do everything in our power to put the perpetrators before the courts.

"I would ask anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to contact the police, knowing they will be believed and listened to.”

Record details

A paedophile was caught with hundreds of pictures and films of children being abused including videos of boys being brutally sexually tortured and beaten, a court has heard. The discovery was made after members of the public raised concerns about Richard Hill acting "strangely" in popular parkland.

Sending 37-year-old Hill to prison, the judge said some of the films found on his phone showed the "prolonged sexual torture of little boys" and said it was because of people like him that there was a trade in making and distributing such material.

Gareth James, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court that on September 11 last year members of the public approached police officers in Abergavenny town centre and reported concerns about a male "acting strangely" in Castle Meadows. Officers went to the area and found Hill laying face down on a towel. When he was roused, the intoxicated defendant gave his name as Rick Hill and a check of police records showed he was a registered sex offender having previously been convicted at Hereford Crown Court.

The court heard that because of his record police seized his phone and checked it, and though they initially found no indecent images they did find concerning conversations on WhatsApp about underage sex. Hill explained the messages were "fantasy". However a subsequent forensic examination of the device found a total of 759 indecent pictures and videos of child abuse including 263 deemed Category A which show the most extreme kinds of sexual abuse such as rape.

The court heard details of one video of more than 12 minutes in length that showed a young boy in a "dirty outhouse" being bound with rope and stamped on while being sexually abused before he was waterboarded and urinated on. The man carrying out the abuse then gives the camera a thumbs up sign.

The full details of the video are too upsetting to be reported. The court heard the very experienced police forensic examiner who located and viewed the video on Hill's phone found its contents "very distressing", and dealing with the evidence in the case has had a "profound effect" on him.

Also on the defendant's phone were another 864 "indicative" images where it was not clear if the subjects were under the age of 18 along with a dozen prohibited images including very realistic computer generated images.

Richard Hill, of Willow Court, Abergavenny, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of indecent images of categories A, B and C and one count of possession of prohibited images when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has five previous convictions for seven offences including making and distributing indecent images from Hereford Crown Court in 2018, offending for which he was given a 16-month sentence and was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order and was put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Ben Waters, for Hill, said the defendant was "appalled at his behaviour" and knows the court and the community will find it abhorrent. He said his client was a "young man dealing with issues from his past" and a pre-sentence report had identified that he wished to "amend the deficiencies in himself". The barrister invited the court to pass a suspended sentence that would allow work to be done to address the issues - he said such a sentence would not just be in the best interests of the defendant but also of the community.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said some of the images found on Hill's phone showed "prolonged sexual torture of little boys", and she said the defendant had watched the brutal torture for his own sexual gratification. She said it was because of people like Hill that there was a trade in making and distributing such material.

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Hill was sentenced to two years and four months in prison - he will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the next 10 years, and will be a registered sex offender for the same period of time. Judge Lloyd-Clarke said even if the sentence had been one that was capable of being suspended - that is a sentence of two years or less - the offending was so serious she would not have suspended it.

Record details

A FORMER pipe band member guilty of sex attacks on three women has been jailed for eight years.

Paul Edwardson preyed on his victims including one who was forced to fake a panic to get him away.

The 23-year-old claimed the women had lied and that there had been a plot to get him locked up.

Edwardson was today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.

He had earlier been convicted of raping two of the young women and assaulting the other with intent to rape.

He pleaded guilty before the trial to having underage sex with a teenage girl.

The offences occurred between 2017 and 2021 mainly at Edwardson's home in Dumbarton.

Sentencing, Lord Scott said he had read a powerful statement from one of the women describing the "significant impact" the ordeal has had on her.

The judge told Edwardson: "Referring to all that she has had to go through - because of you - she has said this whole process has been dehumanising, draining and confusing.

"She mentioned the impact not only on her, but her family and friends whose support has helped her so much.

"This has ensured that she has become a survivor rather than simply another of your victims."

Lord Scott added Edwardson had continued to make "vain protestations of innocence" and that he had "hinted of some sort of conspiracy" against him.

The first offender will also be supervised for two years on his release.

He was further placed on the sex offenders list indefinitely and banned from contacting the three women jurors convicted him of attacking.

The first rape victim was attacked after she had fallen asleep.

In his closing speech, prosecutor John McElroy KC stated: "She was pinned down by her wrists, she told him to stop, he was not listening and he had sex with her."

The next victim was preyed upon after she had also started to fall asleep.

Mr McElroy said: "She did not want sex. It takes her faking a panic attack to put him off."

This victim told the trial she had been insistent with Edwardson.

She added: "One obvious way was me telling him I did not to - I told him multiple times.

"If that was not coming across then I had to take extra measures to do something."

After the intent to rape attack, the young woman was described by a friend as "distraught" and "speaking at 100mph".

The jury heard of texts where the victim confronted Edwardson about what happened.

He stated: "I am so sorry. I did not even think."

The other rape victim said she had no recollection of having any sexual contact.

Mr McElroy stated: "The last thing she can remember before waking up naked on top of a bare mattress is going to bed because she was drunk."

Jurors heard evidence Edwardson went on to wash the victim and her clothes, said to have been in a bid to "hide the evidence" of what he did.

Edwardson claimed at trial the women "told lie after lie".

Mr McElroy added: "I suggest that you would be entitled to the view this is a desperate claim by a desperate man."

It was also heard during the trial how creepy Edwardson would talk about his late mum and show photos of her grave in an apparent attempt at getting young women to feel sorry for him.

Record details

A WEST Cumbrian man who worked in museum management has been jailed after he admitted sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl.

The child suffered nightmares and lost her innocence because of the abuse committed by 53-year-old Stephen Jones, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant, who worked as a duty manager at Workington’s Helena Thompson Museum, admitted eight allegations, most relating to his sexual contact with the teenager.

One arose out of his creation of an indecent child image. Prosecutor Steven Swift outlined the facts.

He said that the first indication that the defendant had taken advantage of the girl came when the child’s mother noticed messages which Jones had sent to her daughter on her mobile.

They seemed inappropriate.

When the girl’s mother confronted her daughter, the teenager confirmed that Jones abused her sexually six times. She had recorded some of what happened between her and the defendant in her journal.

Part of the contact between the girl and Jones involved him sending her an indecent image of himself and asking for photos of her.

In some of her writings, the girl had spoken of Jones as being “creepy” and she also said that she had hated the sexual contact.

“The defendant is 53 and a man of previous good character,” said the prosecutor.

Brendan Burke, mitigating, said: “The only serious mitigation in this case is the defendant’s indication of guilty pleas.”

Judge Michael Fanning said that the offending happened over a relatively short period of time. “But she was a vulnerable girl and you knew that,” the judge told Jones, of Brierydale, Salterbeck, Workington.

The impact on the victim had been heart-breaking. She had now “retreated into herself” and suffers nightmares. The judge added: “Her childhood innocence has been stolen and there is no replacing it.”

He jailed the defendant for four years and eight months and put Jones on the Sex Offender Register for life.

He will be subjected to a 15-year sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order forbids him from having any contact with the victim.

Record details

A sex offender “went off the grid” and ended up living with a new partner and her young child without telling the police where he was. Derby Crown Court heard how Jamie Richardson also spent more than 24 hours at another woman’s house who also had a son and daughter aged under 18 during days of offending late last year.

The 33-year-old for mer Derby man also went missing from the address he had given to his supervising team which had been put in place after he was spared immediate custody for child sex offences. And when they went to his mother’s address searching for him, she told them he had first been living with her and then more recently at his new girlfriend’s home.

Dan Scothern, prosecuting, said Richardson was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order as part of a suspended sentence order imposed at Derby Crown Court in 2020 for offences of attempting to engage a child in sexual communication and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act. He said: “On September 22, last year, police went to what they thought was his home address and when they arrived neighbours told them he had not lived there since April.

“They went to his mother’s address who disclosed he had been living with her but was now living in Uttoxeter with his partner and her child. Neither of those addresses had been registered with the police and that was one of the requirements of his notification requirements.

“He had also failed to notify the police that he was in a new relationship with a new partner who had a 10-year-old. The second complainant was a woman who contacted the police on September 26 telling them she was concerned that a male she was dating might be a registered sex offender and that he had stayed at her address for a 26-hour period.

“She has three children, two of which are under the age of 18 and he (the defendant) had failed to notify the police he had stayed at that address which was another requirement. He had also failed to notify the police, as he was required to do, of an iPhone and an iPad which he had used to communicate with the second complainant and that one method he used to communicate with her was through Snapchat which does not keep its internet history.”

Richardson, of no fixed address and who appeared over a video link from HMP Nottingham for this week’s hearing, pleaded guilty to four breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and five breaches of the notification requirements of being on the sex offender register. His only conviction was the 2020 one which saw him handed a 16-month jail term, suspended for two years, for the child sex offences.

Katie Hodgkinson, mitigating, said her client had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and was a carer for his partner, who was in the public gallery and who she said had recently been diagnosed with cancer.

She said: “He’s acutely aware of the position he has put himself in and he knows there is no excuse.” Judge Martin Hurst jailed Richardson for two years.

He said: “(You) went off the grid for at least nine months living with one woman who has a child for a significant period and you had contact with another woman, who also had children and stayed with her for more than 12 hours.”

The sexual harm prevention order remains in place as does the defendant being on the sex offender register, until 2030.

Record details

A 20-year-old man from Bristol has been jailed for 18 years for rape and other sexual offences committed against five girls, all aged under 18.

Curtis Otley, of Showering Road, Stockwood, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court yesterday (10 January), having been found guilty in September of 12 offences, including rape, attempted rape and sexual activity with a child, committed between 2020 and 2023.

Otley’s victims, whose bravery has been praised by officers, said his crimes had had a long-term effect on them.

In a victim statement read out in court, one of the girls said: “I was worried that people wouldn’t believe me and until I heard the verdict this remained a constant worry, hanging over my head – even though I knew that what I was saying had happened.

“I would say that at my age, most kids don’t go through this stress and are free to enjoy their lives and have fun. I feel like Curtis has taken a large part of this away from me.”

Another said: “I don’t trust anyone at all anymore.  I am quite reserved with male friends and find it difficult to let my guard down.”

And, speaking on behalf of her daughter, the mother of another of his victims said: “I have talked to her about future relationships with boys and men, when she’s older and she said she’s not interested, she feels that boys and men can’t be trusted.”

The investigation was led by the Operation Topaz team which is dedicated to investigating child sexual exploitation and has been supporting the victims.

Record details

A 38-year-old man from Eastleigh has been jailed for 15 years for the rape and sexual assault of a child.

Andrew Paul Tucker, of Shaw Road was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday (4 January).

The nine offences, for which he has been imprisoned, took place between 2017 and 2023. At the time of the first incident, the victim was just ten years of age.

Upon his release from prison, Tucker must also then serve eight years on an extended licence, and will be subject to a restraining order and sexual harm prevention order.

Record details

A man repeatedly sexually assaulted a young child and offered her gifts of sweets if she was a "good girl", a court has heard.

Dean Imperato, who ran his own gardening and maintenance business, subjected his victim to years of abuse before the child reported the behaviour to her mother.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that the child at the centre of the abuse has gone from being a happy, confident, and outgoing little girl to someone who is anxious and self-conscious. The court heard that in April last year the child made disclosures to her mother that Imperato had touched her and the matter was reported to the police.

The youngster "broke down in tears" when officers spoke to her but the investigation later uncovered that the abuse had been going on for a prolonged period with the child saying it had happened "lots of times". The court heard there was an element of grooming to the offending with the 33-year-old defendant buying sweets for the child if she was a "good girl". The victim has lifelong legal anonymity.

In a statement from the victim's mother that was read to the court she said her daughter used to be a happy little girl but was now anxious and did not feel comfortable around boys and men. She said the day her daughter told her what had been happening "my whole world came crashing down" and she blames herself for not being able to protect her child.

Dean Imperato, of Marguerites Way, St Fagans, Cardiff, had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions. Clare Wilkes, for Imperato, said in her submission it was unusual for a defendant to be as open with probation officers as the defendant had been and said given her client's childhood experiences "it is very much to be regretted that he had become a perpetrator". The barrister said the defendant suffered with mental health difficulties which he "could have dealt with better", adding those difficulties were not helped by his use of cannabis. She invited the court to pass a sentence that reflected the seriousness of the offending but was not one of a length that "crushed a man who still has a future ahead of him"

Judge Shomon Khan told Imperato he "sexually abused a little girl for your own sexual gratification" and in so doing had caused "immensurable harm" to the victim and her family. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas the defendant was sentenced to six years in prison. The judge said he will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Imperato will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Record details

A man who subjected a young girl to a decade of rapes and sexual assaults has been given an extended 16 year sentence. Henry Wilson began to abuse his victim when she was aged just five.

Swansea Crown Court heard details of the impact Wilson's offending has had on his victim, and police have praised the bravery of the female in coming forward to report what happened while acknowledging that no sentence can give the victim her childhood back.

Henry Steven Wilson, aged 59, of Matthew Street, Dyfatty, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape of a child, indecency, and indecent assault when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. His victim has life-long legal anonymity.

With a discount for his guilty plea Wilson was given a 16 year extended sentence as an "offender of particular concern" comprising 15 years in prison followed by a one-year extended licence period. The defendant must serve two-thirds of the custodial element of the sentence before he can apply for release but it will be for the Parole Board to determine if he is safe to be released. Wilson will be on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to control his access to children.

Speaking after the sentencing South Wales Police detective constable Rebecca Williams, the officer in the case, said: "Henry Wilson’s crimes are appalling, disturbing, and upsetting. It is clear he poses a real and significant risk to children. I know that no sentence can make up for the devastating damage he has caused and give this brave victim their childhood back, but I really do hope that they can now start to rebuild their life knowing they are safe from their abuser.

"I would like to publicly praise the victim who has demonstrated a huge amount of dignity and incredible strength supporting this investigation. They should be proud of their courage which means that Henry Wilson is now behind bars for a significant amount of time."