Latest Offenders

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A serial sex-offender who was trapped online by paedophile hunters told police that he was glad he had been caught because he needed help.

Mark Best, aged 57, of Baslow Road, at Totley, Sheffield, who has convictions for sex offences, had sexual conversations with two online decoy profiles which had been set up by paedophile hunters and he tried to arrange to meet one of them before he was caught by police, according to a Sheffield Crown Court hearing.

Prosecuting barrister David Webster told the hearing on January 25: “The defendant’s activities came to light as a group of volunteers were setting-up online decoys to attract the attention of those with certain proclivities. He made contact with two decoys believing them to be children.”

Mr Webster added that Best engaged in sexual conversations with the first decoy who claimed to be a 13-year-old girl and he discussed his genitals, spanking, cuddling, unzipping his trousers, oral sex, sexual intercourse and that he could go to prison for being involved in this kind of communication.

Best also discussed masturbating and he tried to arrange to meet this decoy at a McDonald’s restaurant at a retail park in Chesterfield but he changed his mind, according to Mr Webster, and he told the decoy she should be with people her own age.

However, Mr Webster added that the defendant contacted the decoy again and said he had felt bad about not meeting her and asked if they could still meet up.

Mr Webster also said that another paedophile hunter group volunteer set-up another decoy as a 12-year-old girl from Derby and Best contacted them and became involved in further sexual conversations.

The paedophile group also set-up an adult, mature decoy and when the defendant turned up for a meeting he was arrested by police and said he was glad to have been caught and could not understand what he had been doing and that he needed help.

Best pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to arrange or facilitate a child sex offence with a decoy between April and October 2022, and to one count of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order from between April, 2022, and October, 2022, by using the internet to attempt to communicate with a child.

The court heard Best already has convictions including offences of non-penetrative touching of a female, breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Defence barrister Joy Merriam said: “He admits he has a problem and he is attracted to young girls. He said he wants help in prison and the probation officer has said that his sentencing plan should involve that kind of work.”

The judge – Recorder Abdul Iqbal KC – sentenced Best to 48 months of custody and because he was deemed to be dangerous he must serve two-thirds of that term before he can be released and he will also have to serve an extended three years on licence at the end of the four year-term. Best has also been made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to last until 2031.

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Ian Featherstone, who lives in Bushby, groomed the teenage girl for sex while working at a boarding school and was given only a suspended sentence at court

The schoolgirl victim of a sex offender teacher from Leicester has revealed how he stole her innocence in a heartbreaking statement describing the impact of his crimes. Ian Featherstone groomed the teenager for sex while working at a private boarding school, a court heard.

She was a pupil at Abbotsholme School, near Ashbourne, in the Derbyshire Dales, when the 44-year-old struck up an inappropriate relationship with her. Starting with text messages, the exchanges turned to sexualised chat before escalating further to sharing intimate photographs and eventually sex.

Featherstone pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust when he appeared before a judge at Derby Crown Court. He was a married father-of-two when the offences took place, but has since lost his job and is now living with his parents in Pulford Drive, Bushby, reports Derbyshire Live.

The teenager revealed to the court how the sexual abuse she suffered at Featherstone's hands had affected her life. "I didn’t realise what was happening, what he was doing, until someone told me that what he did was not normal," she said.

"It felt right because I finally thought I had found someone who wanted me. However, this never explained why I felt on edge and scared around him.

"I tried ignoring the sexual comments he made, but he always said more. This increased my fear, and I was always questioning if I could trust him. However, I did trust him, and that cost me everything."

The court heard how the Featherstone told the girl not to save his contact details. Instead, she had them on a piece of paper she kept with her phone, so his wife of 14 years did not find out about the relationship. He would also only communicate with her on a social media platform to avoid detection.

"I lost my innocence," added the girl. "I never understood this concept until he did what he did. I have had to grieve that I have lost what it meant to be a teenager. I have had to leave school behind as the weight of pain was too heavy for me to carry on anyone.

"I was always crying, breaking down and having to get picked up every day from school. He pushed my mental health to the limits. This completely destroyed me.

“I self-harmed to cope and even wrote suicide notes. I didn’t want to carry on anymore. The guilt, pain, sadness, and the constant abuse became too much."

The girl turned to Featherstone during the hearing and addressed him directly. "No amount of tears could explain the pain," she told him. "You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my confidence, and my own voice.

"You have no idea how worthless you made me feel. Always being too scared to say no, or not to do as you wanted. This always scared me." She added: "I knew in the end you would always have your way, no matter if I said no. This lives with me, it will never leave."

Featherstone was sentenced to 12 months in prison, but suspended for two years. An electronically monitored curfew will confine him to his home address between 7pm and 5am.

The defendant was ordered to attend a 45-day sex offender awareness programme, as well as 55 rehabilitation sessions with the probation service. He must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work and was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of 10 years.

Speaking at the conclusion of the case, Detective Constable Sarah Parkin commended the victim's bravery in speaking out against her abuser and helping to bring him to justice.

"Mitigation in court tried to explain away Featherstone's offending, and even tried to paint him as the victim, but he is clearly a sexual predator who preyed on someone who should have been safe in his care," she said.

"I would like to commend the bravery of the victim in coming forward and reporting this matter to the police," she added. "Anyone who is reading this and may have been the victim of sexual assault or abuse, please do speak to someone. There is help available. If you do feel able to contact the police we will always listen, investigate, and support you through the process."

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THIS is the face of a smiling pervert who has a history of flashing people from his bedroom window.

It was reported this week that serial flasher Christopher Barrett has been locked up after offending again by exposing his genitals.

The 65-year-old was given numerous chances and warnings by the court that if he carried on, he would end up in prison.

That is exactly where he currently is after being sentenced at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 12, after admitting two further exposure charges.

He also pleaded guilty to a count of breaching his sex offender notification and registration requirements, as well as breaching a suspended sentence.

Now, Cheshire Police has released a custody photo of a smiling Barrett.

Tanya Berridge-Burley, prosecuting, explained how the defendant exposed himself on two consecutive days in Warrington on September 20 and 21 last year.

In doing so, he intentionally exposed his genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress.

He also failed without reasonable excuse to comply with his sex offender registration requirements with the police by not periodically notifying them.

These conditions were imposed when he was slapped with a sentence of 20 weeks in prison suspended for 24 months by the same court in December 2020 for an offence of exposure.

His latest offending put him in breach of this sentence, which was activated as immediate custody.

He was handed the suspended sentence after he exposed himself to a dog walker while stood in his bedroom window.

The court at the time heard that the dog owner was walking her pet outside Barrett's home with her cousin when she spotted the pervert naked and pressed up against a window 'in a star shape' with his arms in the air.

Despite having been seen, he remained stood naked in the window for several minutes.

Speaking in court, the victim said she was ‘shocked, disgusted and frankly devastated’, adding that the offence affected her mental health in terms of giving her panic attacks.

Another previous conviction in March 2018 saw him video passers-by on two occasions while performing sex acts in the same window and waving to get the attention of women outside.

Before sentencing in December 2020, district judge Nicholas Sanders said: “Whatever your problem is, it has to stop.

“If you commit any other offences or fail to comply with the requirements, the starting point is that you will go to prison.”

This is exactly what magistrates decided to do, remarking that the offence was committed during the period of a suspended sentence and highlighting the defendant’s ‘appalling’ record of similar offences.

Barrett, of Mead Road in Padgate, was sentenced to 72 weeks in prison.

He is also the subject of sex offender notification requirements for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

This prohibits him from exposing his genitals and underwear in sight of public or masturbating in sight of anyone without their consent.

In addition, magistrates ordered that the defendant pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £187.

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A sex offender who groomed and sexually abused a teenage girl has been put behind bars.

Thomas Timson, 36, took advantage of a schoolgirl by befriending her and buying her presents.

He paid the girl compliments to win her confidence before abusing her on multiple occasions between October 2019 and April 2020.

Timson, of Kirton, near Newark, was jailed for three years when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (January 20).

He was convicted after a trial on four counts of engaging a girl in sexual activity.

Detective Sergeant James Robinson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Timson’s behaviour was manipulative and predatory. He knew exactly what he was doing when he chose to befriend a young, vulnerable girl.

“His actions were completely reprehensible and caused the child unimaginable emotional damage.

“I’d like to mention the bravery of the child in this case in speaking to officers and helping expose Timson for his appalling crimes.

“By lying about his abuse this case went to trial and put the victim through even more pain.

“I’m pleased that the jury saw through his lies and he is now serving a custodial sentence for his actions.”

Timson met the girl after being introduced to her in July 2019 and was fully aware of her age.

After gaining her confidence, Timson began buying the girl clothes as well as transferring money into her bank account and taking her on shopping trips and to restaurants.

During police interviews, the girl said Timson was throwing money at her.

He asked her to send sexually explicit pictures of herself and sent her inappropriate messages before engaging the girl in sexual activity.

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A terrified woman was forced to have sex with a violent and unstable thug to save the life of a man she was out on a first date with.

The victim was walking home from Sunderland city centre with her date and making plans to meet him again when they were targeted by Sean Robinson without warning.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Robinson kicked the man in the face and then subjected him to a 'severe' beating before leaving him unconscious and bleeding on the ground.

The woman, in her 20s, was then told by Robinson: 'If you come and have sex with me I will not kill him.'

Prosecutor Jane Waugh told the court in a desperate bid to save the man's life the courageous victim had endured the sickening ordeal.

Miss Waugh told the court: 'She had witnessed the horrific violence and knew what he was capable of. She decided, in order to save his life and protect herself from the defendant's unpredictable violence, she would have to agree to have sex with him so he would leave [the man] alone.'

The court heard Robinson, who was then 17, forced the victim to lie on an old coat he found near some bushes and raped her.

Miss Waugh added: 'She was crying through this whole attack. The defendant told her, "If you stop I will go and kill him you know".

'She continued to cry as he raped her. The defendant said, "Shut up and stop being a baby".'

Judge Stephen Earl said Robinson is 'dangerous' and sentenced him to five years behind bars with an extended three-year licence period, with sex offender registration and a restraining order to protect the victims for life.

The judge said it was an 'abominable' attack with 'catastrophic' consequences for the victims and told him: 'You told her, "Come and have sex with me and I will not kill him", knowing, of course, you had meted out a severe beating to [the man] at that point, she has seen and knew what you were capable of at that time.

'In order to protect herself and reasonably to protect the life of her new friend, she decided to go along with your suggestion that she have sex with you.

'It was not consensual sex, it was not penetration she gave willingly to.

'Throughout the attack you were telling her off for crying, saying if you had to stop because she was under enthusiastic about this awful assault you had the option to go back and mete out further punishment to the man.'

The court heard the attack started when the couple were walking home together after their first date in the summer of 2021, when they heard shouting behind them as they approached a bypass near the University metro station.

Miss Waugh said: 'Unprovoked and without warning the defendant launched himself at the man and punched him a number of times.

'He tried to get away, he didn't want to fight and made that very clear, he was saying, "Mate, I don't want to fight".'

Miss Waugh said as the man tried to get away, Robinson chased him, caught him, punched him to the ground then started kicking him.

Eventually, the violence was halted and the couple managed to run off across a metro bridge.

By this point, the man was 'exhausted and bleeding' and the woman was 'almost carrying him' in a desperate attempt to get away.

But Miss Waugh added: 'Next thing they were aware of was the defendant had caught up with them and began attacking the man again, kicking him in the head when he was down.'

The court heard it was a brutal kick to the face that knocked the man unconscious before the woman was raped.

After the attack, Robinson told the woman he would leave her alone if she agreed to come to his house.

Fortunately, she was able to make a call to her parents, who alerted the police and drove to the scene to save her.

Robinson was still in the area, where the victim had waited with the unconscious man after the attack, when her parents arrived.

The victim's father warned Robinson 'I'm going to f****** kill you' and there were punches thrown before the rapist ran off and was later caught by the police.

It was only when he got to the hospital that the man who was attacked during the date found out about the rape.

Both victims suffered psychological and physical injury.

In a victim statement, the woman said the time since the attack has been the 'worst of my life' and added that she has felt 'stuck reliving the traumatic experience over and over again, becoming a prisoner in my own head'.

The woman said her ordeal, which 'cannot be summarised by words alone' has been worsened by court delays and the fact Robinson initially denied raping her.

She said: 'On the day I was told he pleaded guilty to raping me I just wanted to cry and cry. For the first time in what seemed like forever there were tears of relief not sadness.'

The woman said she and her family will never be the same after the 'pain and grief' that has been caused but added: 'My only consolation is he will receive a lengthy custodial sentence, in which time we can rebuild our lives to resemble what we once knew'.

Robinson, 18, admitted assault and rape.

Lorraine Mustard, defending, said Robinson understands the trauma he caused that day, is remorseful for it and added: 'He accepts he's ruined their lives.'

Miss Mustard said Robinson had a difficult childhood and spent time in the care system but has 'hope' for a better future.

'I wish I could have helped her'
The man said in his victim statement the date of the attack should have been a memorable one as it was his first meeting with the woman and they had planned to see each other again.

But he added: 'This date is etched into my memory for all the wrong reasons.

'While walking home we were brutally attacked without reason.

'I tried to defend myself and [the woman] the best I could but the male overpowered me.

'The last memory I have of this is waking up dazed and seeing a male standing over me and a look of terror on her face.

'At the time I didn't know what had happened but have since found out she was raped.

'The feeling of guilt has persisted. I forever wish I could have helped her.'

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A Wester Ross joiner who sexually assaulted a child and pestered other women for sex is facing a “substantial” prison sentence, a sheriff has warned him.

Joseph Stewart, 23, attacked a 14-year-old girl in her bed by touching her body through her clothing, undressing his lower half and trying to get the teenager to touch his penis.

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Isla Bryson was found guilty at Glasgow High Court today of carrying out the violent attacks against the two women in 2016 and 2019 while she was living as Adam Graham.

Isla Bryson has been warned she faces a significant sentence.

A transgender woman has been found guilty of raping two women when she was a man.

Isla Bryson, from Clydebank, committed the crimes before she transitioned to female and when she was known by the "dead name" Adam Graham.

A six-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow heard Bryson raped two women, one in Clydebank in 2016 and one in Drumchapel in 2019.

She met both her victims online, with prosecutors saying she "preyed" on vulnerable women.

Bryson denied the charges, telling the court she "would never hurt another human being".

After less than a day of deliberation, a jury found her guilty of both rape charges.

Addressing Bryson in the dock on Tuesday, judge Lord Scott said: "You have been convicted by the jury of two extremely serious charges, those being charges of rape."

He told her the crimes are "considerable" and that "a significant sentence is inevitable".

Bryson's bail was revoked and she has been remanded in custody until February 28 to allow Lord Scott to gather "as much information as possible" on her before deciding her sentencing.

The court heard Bryson was going through the breakdown of an unhappy, brief marriage when she went to stay with her first victim at the victim's mother's house in Clydebank in 2016.

Evidence heard on the night of the rape, Bryson locked the victim's bedroom door which was "unusual."

Giving evidence on pre-recorded video, the victim, 30, said she was raped for half-an-hour.

"All I said was 'no' over and over and over again," she said.

"At the time I was so scared. Sick to the stomach. I just didn't know what was going on."

She said Bryson later threatened her family with harm if she told anyone.

The second victim told the court Bryson continued to have sex with her after she said stop.

Giving evidence via live video-link, the 34-year-old said they met on the social media app Bigo, where Bryson was named DJ Blade at the time.

She said they met days after chatting and the day after first meeting in June 2019, they were at her home in Drumchapel watching soaps.

The victim said her pyjama bottoms were removed by Bryson, who performed a sex act which she consented to, but then she asked Bryson to stop.

The court heard Bryson entered the victim and was told to stop because Bryson was "crushing" the victim.

The victim's police statement said Bryson instead told her to "stay there" because "he (Bryson) wasn't finished".

The victim told the court: "I said to stop but he (Bryson) just kept on going, and that's when I just closed my eyes and I am doing what he wanted to do."

In her own evidence, Bryson claimed both women consented to having sex.

She said she knew she was transgender at the age of four but did not make the decision to transition until she was 29, and is currently taking hormones and seeking surgery to complete gender reassignment.

She said in 2016 she was "struggling with my sexuality and having issues emotionally".

The jury unanimously found Bryson guilty of raping the second victim, with a majority agreeing she raped the first woman.

The court heard Bryson has three "minor" convictions on her record, but none of these required a prison sentence.

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A convicted sex offender breached a court order through his ‘obsessive, persistent’ stalking of a teenage girl.

Kevan Shane Howard, 52, was put on the sex offenders register ten years ago for sexual activity with a child - despite this, he went on to allow youngsters under the age of 18 to stay at his home.

He also subjected a girl to a seven-week campaign of stalking and frightening messages, beginning with a text sent in December 2021, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Michael Goldwater, prosecuting, said: “Not surprisingly, she found him strange and knew what was happening was wrong.”

He added: “It was persistent and it caused a significant amount of distress.”

Mr Goldwater told the court how Howard, who has 16 previous convictions for 38 offences, had repeatedly texted his victim asking if she wanted to come out with him and if she wanted to go for drinks.

Howard, of Wardle Street, asked for photos of her and at one point asked her to meet him in a graveyard with his dogs.

She blocked his number, and told her parents - Howard was eventually convicted of stalking after a trial before the magistrates' court.

He also admitted to two breaches of his sexual harm prevention order.

Howard had been hit with the order in 2013 after pleading guilty to sexual activity with a child.

Mr Goldwater said the victim had been left ‘frightened and worried he was going to do something'.

Though the second victim had not complained of any inappropriate behaviour, Howard has still breached his order by allowing her to stay over at his home.

Mr Goldwater said: “This was not just a case of allowing someone to stay over the odd time, this was persistent over a long period of time.”

Kevin Lister, defending, pointed out to the court that though Howard’s actions had been deeply distressing there was ‘no suggestion of violence’ involved.

He said: “In the spectrum of these types of offences it is not at the bottom, but neither is it at the higher end of the spectrum where people can be stalked or harassed over a period of months or even years.”

Mr Lister argued that Howard had shown a strong work ethic, was in stable accommodation and could be managed safely in the community rather than being sent to prison immediately.

But Judge Eliot Knopf reminded the court of the profound impact Howard’s behaviour had had on his victim.

He said: “The effect of your offending on that young girl has been graphically described.

“No one can be in any doubt, least of all you, as to the consequences of your persistent pestering and obsession.”

Judge Knopf sentenced Howard to a total of 14 months in prison.

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A man told what he presumed was a 12-year-old girl he wanted to see her "in her birthday suit" and plotted a sordid sex meeting at McDonald's. Harry Croft said he would pretend to be the youngster's grandad if customers or staff became suspicious during a series of lewd online chats.

Yet thankfully, and unbeknown to him, he was actually talking to an undercover police officer. Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 61-year-old began communicating with what he thought was a 12-year-old child in a chatroom in November last year.

Carmel Wilde, prosecuting, described how the pervert asked to see pictures of her in a "sexy nighty or her birthday suit". Croft, of Turton Close, professed that "there are groups out there trying to trap men like me" and confessed that he was "scared of being found out".

Nevertheless, he arranged to meet her at the McDonald's branch in Newton-le-Willows and said that they would "pretend to be granddad and granddaughter" if anyone became suspicious. The pervert also told the decoy: "I've always wanted to see what it's like to be with a young girl. As we get on so well, it's only natural for us to try."

Croft was arrested on December 20 at the arranged meeting point. Under interview, he said he had been on a website for over 18s and it had been a "fantasy, just playing along" - according to the ECHO, adding that he went to McDonald's to "see if anyone turned up" and that they would "have a laugh" if so.

The defendant has one previous conviction for two offences. David Rose, appearing on his behalf, told the court: "He has had some difficulties in coming to terms with and accept his guilty, but he accepts he committed the offences."

Croft admitted attempting sexual communications with a child and arranging a child sex offence on Friday. He was jailed for 30 months, handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offenders' register for the same period.

Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: "The reality is, you recognise, there must be a prison sentence for these matters. The hope is, when you have served it, you will not commit any further offences in the future."

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A SERIAL child sex offender from Leamington has been jailed after he admitted to attempting to engage a child in sexual communication.

Over several days in November, Alan Stringer sent explicit messages and photos of himself to the social media profile of a 13-year-old girl.

He eventually suggested they meet to have sex.

Officers from Warwickshire Police Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team were alerted to the behaviour and raided his house.

Stringer was only released from prison in July 2022 having served a prison sentence for similar offences and was subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order designed to prevent his offending.

In interview Stringer admitted the offences and to breaching the order.

Appearing at Warwick Crown Court on Friday (January 20) 66-year-old Stringer, of Shuckburgh Grove, Leamington, was jailed for four years and three months after pleading guilty to two counts of breaching his sexual harm prevention order, one count of arranging or facilitating the commission of sexual activity with a child and one count of attempting to engage a child in sexual communication.

Detective Constable Adam James from Warwickshire Police Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team said: “The social media account Stringer was communicating with quite clearly stated the owner was a 13-year-old girl yet he continued to send explicit messages to it over several days.

“His grooming behaviour was disgusting and despicable, and we know the kind of damage people like Stringer can cause. The fact we are able to identify this type of behaviour and bring offenders to justice should serve as a warning to others.”

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A Fraserburgh man caught with child sex abuse material involving toddlers told a decoy 13-year-old girl that “age is just a number”.

Michael Marnoch, 30, was snared by paedophile hunters and when police arrived to search his home they found a selection of indecent images of children and videos featuring a girl aged between two and three.

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An oil and gas worker has been placed on the sex offender’s register after he was caught with thousands of child sex abuse images.

Andrew Smith’s house was raided by police who found more than 3,500 images and hours of video footage across his electronic devices.

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A sex offender has been jailed after he spied on a young girl as she got changed on a beach in East Devon.

Pensioner Graham Parkinson was found with a series of photographs which he took of a family with two children on Seaton beach during last year’s August bank holiday.

Police also found more than 1,300 child abuse images or videos on his phone or computer including 464 which showed child rape or serious abuse, sometimes of babies or toddlers.

His collection included more than 100 artificially created images which he had downloaded from the internet over a period of months.

Parkinson completed a sex offenders’ treatment course after being caught for identical offences in 2015 and has a total of 26 previous convictions. He was on the sex offenders’ register and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He was caught because his police offender manager carried out routine checks. He admitted having a compulsion to seek out child images which he could not overcome.

Parkinson, aged 71, of Lower North Street, Exeter, admitted six counts of making, by downloading, indecent images of children and was jailed for 20 months by Judge Stephen Climie at Exeter Crown Court.

He was put on the sex offenders register and made subject of a new SHPO, both of which will last a further ten years.

The judge told him: “You reverted to your old ways, and not to a limited extent. There were close to 1,500 images and a very large number in category A.

“There were images of children under five being brutalized and raped and showing them in significant distress. That is an aggravating factor, as are your previous convictions.”

Mr Herc Ashworth, prosecuting, said two batches of material were found by police in September last year. There were 129 computer generated images, of which 52 were in the worst category A and 1.370 images or videos.

These included 92 movies and 324 still images at category A.

Mr Ashworth said: “A laptop in his bedroom contained several search terms and the internet history showed he had searched for ‘rape of babies’.

“The majority of the children were aged three to ten and some depicted abuse and degradation of very young children who were visibly distressed.

“A phone memory card linked to the camera contained five images taken on Seaton seafront which showed a family with two children, one male one female, she being aged about six to eight. One image showed her getting changed.”

Miss Pamela Calder, defending, said Parkinson has sought help from his church for his compulsion and believes he needs help to overcome an addiction to these images.

She said it is some time since he was last sent on a sex offenders’ course and would benefit from doing this type of work as an alternative to prison.

She said: “He realises he has a compulsion that is beyond his control. Like any addiction, he finds it very difficult to control without help.”

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A "sexual predator" who raped a vulnerable"" young girl after isolating her from her friend in a city centre and luring her back to his home has been jailed.

Girmay Andes, 28, of Droylsden, approached the girl, who was under 16, in Piccadilly in Manchester in July, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

He took her back to his home and attacked her.

Andes, who admitted rape, was jailed at Manchester Crown Court for eight years.

He also pleaded guilty to two separate counts of sexual assault of a woman and was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

GMP said Andes managed to separate the girl from her friend and persuaded her to go back to his home - where the offence took place.

The victim contacted people she knew, who informed police.

Andes took the girl out of his home before officers arrived but they tracked her down a short distance away and she told them what she had been through.

Andes was arrested a short time later.

Det Con Mike Allen praised the victim for "finding the strength" to report the rape and go through the court process to ensure "this sexual predator has been removed from the streets of Manchester and jailed".

He told other victims: "You will be believed and you will be supported throughout every stage of the process, to bring offenders to justice and prevent them from harming anyone else."

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A ‘predator’ planned to meet what he thought was a 12-year-old girl for sex in the Westgate shopping centre toilets.

It was not, however, a pre-teen called ‘Megan’ who Jonathan Chapman met at Oxford railway station on September 5, 2021, but members of vigilante ‘paedophile hunter’ group Secretly Tackling Online Predators UK.

The confrontation was taped and the 24-year-old defendant recorded admitting he was there to meet the 12-year-old but claimed he was not intending to have sex with her.

He tried to explain away the fact he had lubricant in his bag, claiming it belonged to a former girlfriend. The woman was contacted by the police, who said it was not hers.

A statement from a support worker at the facility where Chapman was living raised concerns that he would not stop or ‘learn from his actions’. “He thinks he’s untouchable, which is very scary,” she added.

Jailing him for four years and four months, Judge Michael Gledhill KC said: “The message must go out clearly from these courts that those who do want you’ve done can expect nothing other than an immediate and substantial sentence of imprisonment.”

Earlier, prosecutor William Rees said that Chapman struck up a conversation online in summer 2021 with the decoy social media account purporting to belong to 12-year-old ‘Megan’. In fact, the account was operated by an adult named in court only by the initials T.R.

The defendant was well aware of the person’s purported age, the prosecutor said. When in August 2021 Chapman invited the girl to attend a barbecue in Oxford, she replied: “I can’t get there. I’m only 12 and I live in Essex.”

His conversation with the ‘girl’ became sexual. He suggested they could ‘have fun’ but added that he did not ‘want to lose [her] as a bestest friend’ and pleaded with her not to ‘get scared or show or tell’ anyone.

She was sent a picture of his exposed genitalia, with Chapman writing: “How would you like to have fun with this?”

They arranged to meet up in Oxford, where Chapman said they could go to the Westgate Centre ‘where they were to have sex in the baby changing room’.

Members of the vigilante group, STOP UK, detained him at the railway station until the police arrived and he was arrested. A knife was found in his bag on arrest.

Chapman, of Sandford Lane, Kennington, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming, attempting to incite a child under-13 to engage in sexual activity and possession of a knife.

Matthew Pardoe, mitigating, said his client had a ‘significantly low IQ’ and his full mental health difficulties had not been fully diagnosed. He had lived in supported accommodation since leaving the care of child social services.

Chapman was said to have ‘suffered considerably in his early years’, including at the hands of bullies.

He will be on the sex offender register for life. The judge imposed a sexual harm prevention order aimed at limiting his access to children.