Latest Offenders

Description

A child sex offender left one of victims terrified after following her on social media just days after getting out of prison.

Leslie Crossan was locked up for 12 years in 2018 after being convicted of a series of offences of sexual assault of a child and sexual activity with a child in relation to four victims under the age of 16. As part of his sentence, he was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order banning him from contacting any of the victims.

Having served half of his sentence, the 64-year-old, of Kearsley Close, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, was released from custody on licence on November 14 last year. Shortly after that, he reactivated one of his social media accounts.

On November 28, one of his victims looked at her phone and was horrified to see a notification telling her Crossan had followed her. David Robinson-Young, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "She was shocked and panicked as a result of seeing the notification."

The victim said: "I fear he will make further attempts to contact me. I'm truly scared of this man and what he will do. He has only been out of prison three weeks and has already intimidated me."

Crossan was arrested and when his phone was examined it showed searches had been made for the victim and he had sent a message saying he was going to try to contact her. He pleaded guilty to breaching the sexual harm prevention order.

Mr Robinson-Young said: "This was a deliberate breach which caused her serious distress. It happened only two weeks after being released from prison."

The court heard Crossan has been recalled to prison to serve out the rest of his 12 year sentence. For the new offence, he was jailed for 15 months.

Assistant Judge Advocate General Edward Legard told him: "That must have been extremely unnerving and distressing for her. She was clearly shocked and panicked by what she had seen and read."

Nigel Hedley, defending, said "there was no malice" in Crossan's actions, adding: "He is truly apologetic. It's very possible he will remain in custody for the next six years on recall."

Description

A prolific offender found in possession of 90,000 images of child sexual abuse has been jailed for a decade. Daniel Tunney pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children and breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

An investigation was launched by Cheshire Police in September last year after they received intelligence that Tunney had been engaging with indecent images of children online. As a result, officers from the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team conducted a search at his home.

As part of his sex offender registration conditions, Tunney is required to notify police of any digital devices he owns or has access to. During the search of his address, Tunney was arrested, and officers seized three unregistered digital devices - a mobile phone, a hard drive, and a memory card.

Following a digital forensic analysis of his devices, officers discovered Tunney was in possession of thousands of images and videos displaying child abuse, these included at least 603 category A images, 240 category A videos, 735 category B images, 40 category B videos, 46,045 category C images, and 13 category C videos.

He was also found in possession of 104 images and 36 videos of extreme pornography. A further 72,659 images and videos remain uncategorised.

Tunney, 42, of Manor Way, Crewe, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 3 January where he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

When interviewed, Tunney answered “no comment” to all questions, but was charged with the offences regardless due to the amount of evidence gathered against him. Tunney was left with no choice but to plead guilty.

Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Nathanael Johnston, said: “Tunney is a prolific sex offender who posed a significant risk to children. During our investigation, we found that he was in possession of more than 90,000 indecent images of child sexual abuse. Through the work of our officers, we were able to quickly bring him to justice and he is now facing the consequences of his actions behind bars.”

Detective Constable Meg Griffithes, of the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “It is important to note that these crimes are not victimless, and as this case demonstrates, we are committed to pursuing and bringing to justice those who engage in online child sexual exploitation and play a part in the sexual abuse of children in Cheshire and beyond."

Description

Pervert in paedo pride boast says five callous words as 'horrific' diary read to court

A court heard that Gerrard Charnley was found in possession of so much child abuse material that police struggled to identify it all after it was recovered from his home in Widnes

A pervert who boasted about being a "proud paedophile" uttered five words of callous acknowledgement after sick passages from his diary were read out in court.

Police struggled to quantify the extreme amount of child abuse content collected by Gerrard Charnley, 52, who trawled the dark web in search for pictures and videos. Charnley, of Coronation Drive in Widnes, developed a "compulsive obsession" with the material and downloaded hundreds of thousands of indecent images and videos.

He documented his desires in sickening detail in a personal journal titled "my paedophile diary", in which he named girls he wanted to "rape some day". And when sentenced by a judge presiding over his trial for his possession of the abuse material, the offender issued a five-word statement of admission.

The Liverpool ECHO reports that Liverpool Crown Court heard Charnley collected 15,081 pictures and 2,308 videos graded as category A, meaning they showed the most serious forms of abuse, including babies being raped. Charnley was also found to have downloaded a further 17,383 category B images and 169,968 category C images.

He also had in his possession nine computer generated prohibited images of children, and an additional nine extreme pornographic images. Police were unable to categorise an additional 230,000 images due to the sheer volume of material on his devices. Prosecutor Sarah Holt said he documented the images in his journal "My Paedophile Diary".

She told the court the document "contained references to specific dates and what the defendant wanted to do to particular children", with one entry from June 2016 naming one girl he wanted to "rape some day very soon". He added in the entry: "I'm proud to say this as a paedophile."

Among other entries in the diary were a list of his favourite websites for viewing child abuse content, and a list entitled "preteen s**gs I'd love to rape". Charnley admitted possession of indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children, possession of extreme pornographic images and possession of a paedophile manual.

He was jailed for 14 months on Thursday, January 2, handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, and told to sign the sex offenders' register for the next decade. Nodding as he left the dock, having been told he would go to prison, he said: "I'm guilty. I'm sorry, ok." Sentencing Charnley, honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said the content he accessed was "truly shocking".

He told the court: "There were so many images, something approaching half a million, recovered from your devices. I am told that there are 232,000 images which remain uncategorised, such was the sheer scale of the task. It is safe to say that your collection of images was enormous by any standard.

You appear to have been keeping a diary of the sorts of things you would like to do to children. They are horrific. They may well be you playing out your fantasies in writing, but they demonstrate the depraved, perverted nature of your desires and your reason for accessing all of this material.

"This written material demonstrates clearly that yours was not an idle obsession, but one where you were fixated on the abuse of children. It is trite to observe that while you yourself did not generate these images, your accessing of them and collecting of them develops a market for this sort of material.

"It is trite to observe that while you yourself did not generate these images, your accessing of them and collecting of them develops a market for this sort of material." The judge concluded: "I am satisfied that only an immediate term of imprisonment is appropriate to deal with offending of the scale and type described in this case where you have quite deliberately, over many years, sought out and collected a huge quantity of appalling material.

"Alongside that you have generated your own material, demonstrating that you have a clear desire to participate in the abuse of these children."

Description

A man who raped a 13-year-old child after manipulating the victim into drinking excessive amounts of alcohol has been jailed for 14 years.

Andrew Mackay, 64, from High Spen, Gateshead, attacked the child after the victim passed out as a result of too much alcohol, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The victim said they had tried to take their own life after the assault, and would "never forgive" Mackay.

Mackay, who had denied any wrongdoing, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sexual assault.

Judge Sarah Mallett said Mackay had been "grooming" the child with alcohol, and at the time of the rape had given the victim so much to drink they were unable to fully recollect what had happened.

In a statement read to the court, the child said they felt sick thinking about the abuse and relived it on a daily basis.

The victim said Mackay had ruined a "normal" teenage life, adding: "I will never be able to look back and think of my teenage years as the best years of my life like most others."

Mackay, of Bute Drive, must also sign the Sex Offender Register for life, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A sex offender has been hounded out of Stoke-on-Trent. Warren Potts has now started a new life in Cambridgeshire after leaving The Potteries.

It comes after the 52-year-old's past - when he was jailed for 15 years in 2011 for a string of serious sexual offences - became known in the Stoke-on-Trent community where he lived. It followed Potts failing to inform police that he had gone on holiday to Spain and not registering his new passport within three days of receiving it.

Now Potts - who is on the Sex Offenders' Register for life - has pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to comply with his notification requirements. He has been handed an 18-month community order with a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a £249 court bill.

North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard police were informed that Potts had travelled to Alicante in September.

Prosecutor Suzanne Swindail said: "The information was checked with passport officers and he was issued with a passport on July 18. On September 13 he travelled to Alicante from Birmingham. He had not registered his passport within three days of receiving it. He had not notified the police of travel. He must notify them at least seven days before leaving the country."

In his police interview Potts said failing to register the passport was a mistake. He had it for two months and forgot to register it.

Karen Wright, mitigating, said Potts and his partner went on holiday to celebrate his birthday. The couple hope to marry next month and Potts cares for his partner.

Miss Wright added: "On his return he was made aware he should have notified the police. He and his partner have moved to Cambridgeshire. When these issues came to light the neighbours got hold of it and they were put under horrendous scrutiny. They were harassed and had an awful lot of issues."

Description

A PAEDOPHILE who was caught with more than 100 indecent images of children on his devices has walked free from court.

Cheshire Police issued a search warrant for an address in Widnes, home of Paul Dixon, following intelligence relating to an ‘online user engaging in conversation about sexual abuse of a child’.

Prosecuting, Alex Farrow said that Dixon’s home, on Guernsey Road, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8, was searched by officers and several devices were recovered for further investigation.

“Devices were found to contain indecent images of children, including 62 category A pictures, 50 category B pictures and 90 category C pictures.”

Along with that, a further 56 extreme pornographic images were found, totalling to 102 indecent images.

Mr Farrow described the 59-year-old as a man of ‘previous good character’.

Defending, Peter Green said Dixon had faced “significant punishment” already from the fact his offending led to him losing his job.

“That has had a significant impact on him and his wife as well,” he said, adding that his wife is “standing by him” and came to show her support in court.

Concluding, chair of the bench Ian Johnston addressed the defendant, saying: “You have committed multiple offences. You are not going to jail today but not by much.”

He handed Dixon a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months and ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work as well as take part in 30 rehabilitation requirement days.

The defendant will also sign on to notification requirements for seven years and will be subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

Description

A pervert who sent a photograph of his genitals to a teenage girl has been locked up for his sickening behaviour.

Lewis Hart also sent sexualised images to his landlord six months later during a campaign of harassment while he was on police bail.

The 36-year-old sent several messages to the woman telling her that he found her attractive, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Jon Harley, prosecuting, said Hart told the teenager that he wanted to ‘get it out of his system’ when he sent her the sexually explicit images last May.

He said the defendant sent a WhatsApp message to the woman while he was intoxicated and the harassment had left the victim feeling physically sick.

Hart, of Blackmore Close, Guisborough, pleaded guilty to sending sexual communication to a child, sent a photograph or video to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, and cause harassment without violence.

John Nixon, mitigating, said the father had become ‘low and desperate’ when he committed the offences.

“It doesn’t excuse what happened but does show that it was out of character and is something that he bitterly regrets indeed,” he added.

“There is a very good prospect of rehabilitation and little likelihood of further offences being committed. He still plays a role in the life of his biological children and there is hope for the future.”

Judge Timothy Stead jailed Hart for a total of 16 months.

He said: “It is understood that you and your family had been having a difficult time and your own mental health has not always been good.

“The difficulty in this case lies in the most serious offence in this case, sexual communication with a child, is an offence committed against a 14-year-old.

“You sent six images to her and are undoubtedly of a sexual nature and most people would find them troubling and disgusting.”

Hart was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and was made subject of a ten-year restraining order.

Description

A 'twisted' English teacher who admitted receiving a sex act from a 16-year-old student in a cupboard at school after class was spared jail today.

David Howard, 47, wooed the teenager with a Valentine's Day card and a love letter declaring he was 'besotted' with his victim, who branded him a 'predator' today.

Howard joked that they could get caught by the cleaner when they secretly met in the cupboard at the end of the school day, Woolwich Crown Court was told.

He sent her cards, letters, mini-discs and books, including a paperback by notorious sexual libertine and sex criminal Marquis de Sade. They also met out of school and spent long periods speaking on the phone.

'I fear I have become besotted by you', he told her. 

The court heard that he was single, then aged 24, and in his first teaching job at Crown Woods School, Eltham - since renamed Leigh Stationers Academy. 

Howard, of Lewes, now married with a child, pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in sexual activity, while in a position of trust, in 2002.

He was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for eighteen months, plus thirty days of a Probation Service-ordered rehabilitation activity requirement and must sign the sex offenders register for seven years.

He was seen in the company of the girl, then 16 and still wearing her uniform, in the Blackheath area of south-east London.

She told the court she later reported him to the deputy headmaster and another teacher at the time, but nothing happened.

Prosecutor Matthew Dalton said the now 38-year-old victim first reported Howard - who quit teaching for the legal profession - in 2021 and gave a video-recorded statement to police on August 27 that year.

'I received a Valentine's Day card when I was sixteen years-old,' she told officers.

The card was posted to her family home and was followed by a hand-written A4 letter in which Howard wrote: 'I fear I have become besotted by you.'

'The author was her teacher, who also got on the same train as her when she travelled to school,' said Mr Dalton. 

'They also spent time together outside school.'

The victim told police she performed a sex act on him in a cupboard 'at the end of the corridor, on the top floor.'

She spent so long on the house phone with Howard her mother asked: 'Who are all these calls to,' and said: 'That's the big phone bill.'

She also once visited Howard's flat, but there is no suggestion any sexual activity took place there.

Over ten years later, in 2013 she sent him a letter saying she was now aware he 'groomed and abused' her, but Howard did not reply.

Judge Charlotte Welsh told Howard: 'You chose to use that girl to make you feel better, which was an extremely cruel thing to do. She was not equipped to deal with your sexual advances.

'It was highly selfish behaviour, a twisted immoral attempt at courtship that was criminal.

'I accept your remorse is genuine, but that is cold comfort to the victim. There is a genuine prospect of rehabilitation and I accept your understanding that what you did was so wrong.' 

The victim attended the hearing and read aloud her impact statement, a few metres from Howard. 

'Predators like him are able to identify vulnerable children like me,' she said.

'The grooming was so powerful that for a decade I was convinced it was a consenting relationship.

'What happened was a badly kept secret. The Deputy Head saw us together, I told another teacher and they did nothing, allowing him to continue to sexually abuse me.'

'I was anxious, agoraphobic, isolated and afraid and fearful in public,' she told the packed courtroom.

'I have nightmares of David Howard chasing and attacking me.

'I have been driven to pour boiling water on my wrists to reduce stress and moved to a home near a railway level crossing, with the intention of ending my life.

'I hope all the teachers feel one tenth of my guilt and shame for not reporting. He told me he was in a relationship with another pupil and I believe he abused others.'

Mr Dalton added: 'Howard was flirty with her in the classroom and she describes him as popular and as the "cool teacher" and he would have been twenty-four years-old at the time.

'She says that she had a crush on him and would lie to her parents about where she was when she was with Howard.'

The victim recalled the light-hearted way Howard dealt with the stock cupboard act. 'There was a joke about getting caught by the cleaner as it was the end of the school day.'

Howard's lawyer James Martin told the court his client is now seeing a counsellor, but Judge Welsh noted this only began when he was arrested.

'This was many, many years ago and you are passing sentence on someone who is a different human being,' said the lawyer.

'He is now married with a child and this was his first job and he was immature and teaching children not much younger than himself.

'He accepts it was morally unacceptable and was not aware it was criminal and does not accept that he groomed her.

'What took place in the cupboard was slightly before her exams and it was never a full sexual relationship, just that one off incident in the cupboard as distressing as that may be.

'There were very personal circumstances at the time that I would rather not get into in open court,' said Mr Martin. 'He has dealt with a substantial amount of residual guilt for what he has done.

'Some time ago he wrote a letter of remorse and apology to the victim and that letter is in the hands of the Crown Prosecution Service and available if she wants to read it.

'He will have to find a new career now and at his age that in itself is a significant punishment. He moved away from the teaching profession to engage in the world of law.'

Judge Welsh told first-time offender Howard: 'By its nature it was abusive at all times. You sent her a Valentine's Day card and told her you were besotted.

'You spent time together outside of the school, not even surreptitiously and others knew what was going on.

'It took her many years to understand that what you did to her was abuse and I cannot give justice as to how it has impacted her life.

'The people who should have stepped in to stop what was going on did nothing and she is still plainly suffering anxiety and clearly not managing it.

'You tell me you saw your involvement as a genuine relationship, but it was a warped view given that she was a schoolgirl and you were a schoolteacher.

'I am told you acknowledge this now and are disgusted by what you did then.'

The Judge ruled Howard's behaviour did not amount to grooming, adding: 'It must have been a stressful environment in a large London comprehensive and you had a crisis of confidence and mental health difficulties.

'You quit teaching as you were unable to cope'.

Description

A 32-year-old “prowler” sexually assaulted three schoolgirls and exposed himself to other groups of people during a short spell of offending in Derby city centre.

Derby Crown Court heard how Muftah Mohammed walked up to each of his three young victims and grabbed their backsides or breasts before moving on.

The defendant, who lives in the city centre, walked into a bank and dropped his trousers exposing himself to the staff and customers there. Now he has been jailed for his “disgusting” offending but is likely to be back on the streets within days as he has served most of that time in jail on remand.

Jailing him for 15 months, Recorder Mary Prior KC said: “None of your victims should have been subjected to any kind of sexual assault in the middle of the day in Derby city centre. Each of them was left suffering upset and distress and will have been impacted in their ability to do what young 16-year-old girls should be able to do, which is to walk around without fear of being attacked by a complete stranger.”

Steve Gosnell, prosecuting, said all of the incidents took place on the afternoon of May 24 when the city centre was busy with shoppers. He said Mohammed first walked into the foyer of a bank on east Street, dropped his trousers and exposed himself to the workers and customers in there before walking out.

The prosecutor said: “This was prowling behaviour if I can put it that way. This is not a case where he was standing in a doorway waiting for people, he was approaching groups. He walked around the city centre and cathedral area approaching groups of people including school girls in their uniforms.

“He slapped one 16-year-old to her bum and said to her ‘touch my ****’ then moved on. He approached a second 16-year-old, walked straight up to her and grabbed her left breast and then walked away.

“He then headed straight to a third group of schoolgirls, approached another 16-year-old, stroked his hand across her breasts and tried to pull at her shirt.

“After that he exposed himself to the group and said ‘have a look at this, do you want some?’.” Mr Gosnell said none of the three girls he touched wanted to give victim impact statements but members of the group of girls he exposed himself to said they felt “disgusted and discomforted” by what they saw.

Mohammed, of Chapel Street, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecent exposure. He has 11 previous court appearances for 22 offences, but nothing of a sexual nature and was assisted at this week’s hearing by a North African Arabic interpreter.

Lesley Pidcock, mitigating, said her client had been drinking alcohol and taking drugs on the day of the offences and has mental health issues. She said: “He is sorry, he is remorseful and he does regret his actions.

“Let’s put it plainly, it was not normal behaviour in inverted commas, and it is clear he has not behaved in this way before.”

As well as the jail term, the judge ordered the defendant to sign on the sex offender register for 10 years and handed him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. As he has already served the equivalent of a 14-month sentence on remand, Mohammed is likely to be released in the next month where he will serve the remainder of the sentence on licence in the UK due to his immigration status.

Description

A father had a so-called "paedophile manual" which contained a detailed step-by-step guide on how to find, groom, and have sex with children from the age of two, a court has heard.

One of the tips in the 170-page book for men who want access to children is to target single mothers who "lack self-confidence" and would welcome a new relationship.

Swansea Crown Court heard Jason Church was also found to have downloaded more than 39,000 pictures and videos of children and babies as young as two months old being sexually abused. Sending the 40-year-old to prison a judge said he was of the view that the defendant posed "a risk and a danger to children".

Ashanti-Jade Walton, prosecuting, told the court that at at 7.15am on August 23, 2023, police officers and forensic investigators executed a search warrant at the defendant's family home in Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire in response to intelligence which showed that indecent images had been downloaded by a device linked to the property. She said the officers explained the purpose of their visit to Church and he told them the material they were looking for was on his device. An initial examination of a Samsung phone showed the presence of indecent images and the defendant was arrested and taken into custody. The court heard that a welfare check was then carried out on the defendant's wife as she was noted to be "in shock" at what had happened.

The prosecutor said a detailed examination of the seized phone and its SD memory card revealed more than 39,000 pictures and film clips of children being sexually abused including 2,688 Category A images showing the most serious kinds of abuse. The court heard some of the images showed the attempted rape of a baby girl aged between two and four months.

Miss Walton said investigators also uncovered a 170-page book stored on the phone called How to Practice Child Love which gave detailed step-by-step advice and instructions on how adults can find, groom, and have sex with children from the age of two years upwards. The court heard how the book said "there were no good arguments" against adults having sex with children and it boasted that it was based on "advanced child psychology and research". The court heard that among the tips the book offered men wanting to find children for sex was to get a pet, as "you will be a kid magnet", and to target single mothers who "suffer from a lack of self-confidence" and are desperate for a relationship.

In his police interview the defendant accepted downloading indecent images.

Jason Rhydian Church, now of Llangrannog, Llandysul, Ceredigion, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of indecent images and to possession of a "paedophile manual" – contrary to s69 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 – when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Regan Walters, for Church, said the defendant had cooperated with police who came to his address and had already sought help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity which works to prevent child sexual abuse. He said the defendant knew he should not have been searching for and downloading the kind of material found on his device and said it was unfortunate that he "chose to bypass that understanding". The barrister said that while in no way intended to be an excuse for Church's behaviour his client had been suffering from depression since 2019 something which "informed his consumption of alcohol" – a situation which spiralled during the Covid pandemic. He added that as a result of his offending his client had lost his managerial job with a timber frame business, which had been a "devastating loss" for him.

Judge Huw Rees said viewing material of the kind found on Church's phone would be a "harrowing experience for right-thinking people" but for the defendant was "a source of a base, crude sexual preoccupation". The judge said the children shown in the images on Church's device were real children being sexually abused and exploited "to satisfy the degenerate and lustful demands" of people like the defendant and he said in his view Church posed "a risk and a danger to children".

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Church was sentenced to 22 months in prison comprising 16 months for possession of indecent images and six months for possession of the paedophile manual to run consecutively. The defendant will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Church will be a registered sex offender for 10 years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

Description

Kent Police has a team of officers dedicated to checking the conduct of registered sex offenders, to ensure they are complying with any conditions imposed by a court following a conviction.

Paul Webster was issued with a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) following his conviction on 1 September 2017 at Maidstone Crown Court, for making indecent images of children.

The SHPO had several prohibitions around his use of the internet, alongside a requirement to allow officers to inspect his computers and other devices.

Inspection 

On Wednesday 14 February 2024, two officers visited Webster’s home and asked him to present any phones or computers in his possession for inspection. He gave the constables a phone that was not enabled for the internet and claimed he had no other devices.

A search of the premises found two internet enabled phones, one under a pillow, 11 USB sticks and an SD card. One of the phones contained indecent images of children including some in the most serious category, and a browser that did not retain internet history.

Webster’s actions were evidence of multiple breaches of his SHPO. Officers also found he had acquired a bank card without notifying the police, in contravention of his sex offender notification requirements.

Investigators charged Webster, of Railway Street, Chatham, with making indecent images of a child, failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

Sentenced

Webster pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and, on Friday 20 December 2024, the 56 year old was jailed for three years and nine months.

Description

A Coventry man who groomed what he believed to be two teenage girls has been jailed. Ahmed Kajee was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court.

Police arrested 55-year-old Kajee in Coventry in February. He believed that he was speaking to 13 and 14-year-old girls, who were found to be decoys from Saving Childrens Futures.

Kajee pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He also admitted to inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, Warwick Crown Court said.

Kajee, from Coventry, was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on Wednesday, December 18. He will spend two years in jail.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “It is illegal for anyone to have, share, or make sexual images or videos of people under 18. We will decide whether to take action depending on things like evidence of exploitation or grooming.

“Children can become victims of abuse on the internet through online games, social networking sites, and apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. To help protect children while they are online, encourage them to talk to you about how they use the internet and show you what they do.

“Have an agreement in place and set boundaries for their internet use, such as when and where they can use their devices and for how long. Check age ratings that come with games, apps, films, and social networks to confirm whether they are suitable.

“Activate parental controls on your home network and all devices, including mobile phones and game consoles, and safe settings can also be activated on sites such as Google and YouTube. Make sure they are aware of the risks of sharing images online and that you both know how to remove content should you need to.”

Description

A "dangerous" convicted sex offender got a nasty shock when a 12-year-old schoolgirl that he was exchanging explicit and highly sexualised online messages with turned out to be an undercover police officer trying to trap paedophiles.

Perverted predator Connor Smith had already been jailed in the past for seven years but, after he was released from prison, it did not "deter" him that the decoy girl was only 12, Hull Crown Court heard.

Smith, 43, of Eastfield Road, Market Weighton, admitted attempting engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity between July and August.

Judge Alexander Menary told the court that Smith had been jailed at Hull Crown Court for seven years in July 2018 for two offences of sexual activity with a child. He had been given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

The offences, from 2016, involved him befriending and forming a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl and having sex with her on a number of occasions when she should have been at school.

Smith served a significant period of that prison sentence but he was twice released on licence. He had been recalled to prison because of other concerns from the probation service.

After he was released, he began communicating with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl but who was really an undercover police officer. "The fact that she was a 12-year-old girl did not deter you," said Judge Menary.

Smith encouraged the decoy girl to commit sexual acts. He had a worrying interest in children but he had not acknowledged this. The probation service regarded him as posing a risk of serious harm to children through further offences.

Billy Torbett, mitigating, said that Smith pleaded guilty at an early stage. "There is no denying that his behaviour is, quite simply, unacceptable," said Mr Torbett.

"He is ashamed of himself, as he should, quite frankly, be. He is remorseful for his offending."

Smith had kept out of trouble for a time after his release from prison but he "ruined that" by committing the offences. He was realistic about facing a prison sentence again.

Smith, who was already in custody, was jailed for four years after being branded a "dangerous" offender. He will be on extended licence of five years after his release from prison.

He must register as a sex offender for life and the indefinite sexual harm prevention order will continue.

Description

A “high-risk” self-confessed paedophile from Dundee who victimised a girl on TikTok has been jailed “to bring home the seriousness” of his predatory offending.

Raheel Bajwa, 20, bombarded the girl with images and videos on apps like TikTok and Snapchat for more than a year from an address in Dundee.

Description

A VIOLENT sex offender has been jailed for nine years after orchestrating a series of fire attacks on homes of potential witnesses in his upcoming court case.

Josh Neil, 25, hired two men from Aberdeen to terrorise a family while behind bars, demanding that they set fire to the doors of addresses in Penicuik, Midlothian with promise of payment if they provided video footage as proof.

Four separate attacks were carried out in the town, with two of them endangering the lives of young children present in the homes.

Stephen Barry and Ty Hyland, both from Aberdeen, were part of a gang that struck after the mum made physical and sexual accusations against a man.

As previously reported by the Press and Journal, Neil admitted acting with others while he was in Peterhead’s HMP Grampian and Barlinnie Prison, in Glasgow, to wilfully set fire to two homes in Penicuik in November 2022 and May 2023.

He further pled guilty to disorderly conduct in November 2022 while acting with others when an accelerant was poured over the door of a house.

Neil is currently serving a sentence for a conviction of serious abuse against a woman, with his earliest possible release date being December 2027.

However, on Friday he was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh to another nine years for offences related to the fire attacks.

His nine-year jail term will be served following his present stint behind bars.

Detective sergeant Narelle Allan said: “Josh Neil will now face the consequences of his despicable actions.

“I hope his conviction and sentencing will bring justice to all involved, who have shown great strength in reporting what happened to them.”