Latest Offenders

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A man who trussed a woman to a bed moments before subjecting her to a violent rape ordeal has been jailed for 15 years.

Kevin Hood, 34, attacked the female, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at an address in Edinburgh in August 2021. The high court in the city heard last month how Hood subjected the woman to a terrifying ordeal during the attack.

He demanded her mobile telephone password to see who she had been speaking to. The court heard that Hood then prevented her from leaving a bedroom and fastened her ankles and wrists to a bed, detaining her there against her will.

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Hood then started to choke the woman before raping her. But Hoods victim plucked up enough courage to speak to the police who launched an investigation into his activities.

Detectives then found enough evidence against Hood to bring him to justice. On Wednesday, the court heard how Hood had told a social worker tasked with finding out more about his background that he used sex workers.

He also told the social worker that he liked to indulge in sex which included restraints and strangulations. Judge Lord Arthurson told Hood that as he had been assessed at being at high risk of re-offending, the only sentence available to the court was prison.

Lord Arthurson also told Hood that the risk he posed to women in general was such that hed have been supervised by the authorities for 10 years following his release from custody. Passing sentence, Lord Arthurson said: This crime is one of the worst that Ive had to deal with in my judicial career.

This was a sustained assault using sickening acts of violence undertaken with the purpose of controlling your victim. Given the circumstances of the offence, the only disposal that can be in the circumstances is the imposition of a extremely long custodial one.

The sentence being imposed is to punish you, reflect societys revulsion at such crimes and to deter others from committing them. The story emerged on last month when a jury found Hood, who lives in Edinburgh city centre, guilty of raping the woman.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier stage in proceedings to charges of subjecting the woman he raped to threatening behaviour. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting another woman and subjecting her to threatening behaviour in 2018.

Following conviction, prosecutor Richard Goddard KC told Lord Arthurson that prior to his arrest, Hood was unemployed. Mr Goddard also said that the accused has appeared in court on previous occasions.

He added: The accused has a significant criminal record. On Wednesday, Lord Arthurson also placed Hood on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

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Havant paedophile Gregorio Valencia inflicted misery on the girl during his ‘progressive’ campaign of harrowing abuse over a year. The educated man of ‘good character’ started off by touching the child intimately.

Valencia, of Horsebridge Road, exploited opportunities to abuse the girl. Prosecutor Simon Foster outlined the acts he committed, which The News is not repeating in detail. He said the girl cried after Valencia left the room.

Valencia touched her, and also climbed on top of her, Mr Foster said, adding: ‘These were especially serious incidents. Had the alarm not been raised things may have proceeded.’

The victim, in a statement read out to court, said she felt ‘disgusted and sad’. ‘I felt really scared and strange. He was so nice to me afterwards it made me feel weird,’ she said.

The girl said she suffers ‘nightmares’ from her ordeal and blamed herself. ‘I dream a lot about what he did to me, touching me and climbing on top of me. It’s like it happened all over again. Then I wake up in silence and think about it all over again. It was terrifying.’ She added: ‘I feel guilty and like it is all my fault.’

Valencia gave no comment to police when arrested. He admitted seven offences of sexual activity with a girl and was immediately put on the sex offenders register. But when police came to check on him he was not at the address he had given - instead living in his car to save money.

Having an established address is not a pressing concern for Valencia now, though, after he was locked up for two and a half years. Judge Keith Cutler CBE told Valencia his actions caused ‘distress and anxiety’. ‘She should not feel guilty at all. There is no blame on her or anyone else,’ he continued.

‘There’s only one person who did wrong by her and that was you. And you are going to pay the price. They were progressive acts that fortunately went no further.’

Valencia, who admitted a charge of breaching his sex offender notification requirements, was handed a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years. He must sign the sex offenders register forever.

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A "dangerous" sex offender from Darwen who was found with two teenage girls in his hotel room has been jailed.

Colin Smith, of Everton Street, was arrested in 2020 when he returned to a hotel room in Bury.

Smith was putting up two teenage girls who had been reported missing at the time, and on his return to the hotel, found Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers waiting for him. 

Appearing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday, Smith, 59, was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to 11 charges against five victims.

These including offences of meeting a child following sexual grooming, making and distributing indecent images of children, and sexual activity with a child.

Among the offences, police said Smith "plied victims with alcohol in order to commit abhorrent and depraved offences".

Described as a "calculated individual", he created multiple social media accounts and aliases, identifying as a teenager, to lure his victims into trusting him. 

Following his arrest, numerous devices belonging to Smith were seized which uncovered further victims of grooming, evidence of possession and distribution of indecent images of children, and extreme pornography.

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Partington, from Greater Manchester Police, said: “Firstly, I would like to publicly recognise the courage of the two young girls who were staying in the hotel room – they made contact with someone they could trust, which enabled us to safeguard them and, ultimately, secure this prosecution.

“Smith’s behaviour towards the victims was nothing short of sickening – in some cases, he plied them with alcohol in order to commit abhorrent and depraved offences.

"His prosecution and imprisonment should reassure our communities about our commitment to fighting this type of crime and keeping vulnerable people safe.”

Constable Carly Baines, of GMP's Sexual Crime Unit, added: “This sentencing is the result of a long, meticulous investigation by our complex safeguarding hub.

"Smith’s behaviour is deplorable and completely unacceptable, and I hope this result sends a stark warning to offenders that these behaviours will not be tolerated by GMP.

“I would like to thank the victims for their resilience and bravery in reporting this incident to the police and giving us the opportunity to put a dangerous and depraved man in prison, and I hope this sentencing will now allow the victims to be able to move forward with their lives.”

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Graeme Phillips also asked for a "naughty picture" and sent the decoy a picture of his penis in a "semi-erect" state and asked if she thought "it was nice".

A pervert told what he thought was a 14-year-old girl that he had a 'Big Mac in his shorts'. Graeme Phillips, 41, was caught by paedophile hunters after speaking with two decoy accounts last year.

Phillips was snared by the 'Dank Dragons Exposed' group after sending naked selfies and sick messages to what he believed to be underage girls. He was tracked to a pub where another group called Stop UK confronted him on behalf of Dank Dragons Exposed and performed a citizen's arrest.

He received a suspended sentence at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday November 15) after pleading guilty to two counts of attempting to engage a child in sexual communication. 

Liverpool Echo reports that Phillips told an account called 'Sarah' on the 'Meet4U' app that he was 40 and initially said "I think you're too old for me". However the court heard that Phillips began sending sexualised messages on December 1, 2021, after she changed a profile picture on her WhatsApp account.

Prosecution barrister Paul Blasbery said: "As a result of that picture the defendant told the decoy she was beautiful and stunning, he then sent a picture of himself naked from the waist up where he was sitting on the bed. He then told her 'I probably have bigger t***' than her, and told her he didn't care if she wore a bra or not."

Other vile comments including asking if he could "make her blush", talking about her breasts and telling her he had a "Big Mac in his shorts", referring to his penis. He also asked for a "naughty picture" and sent her a picture of his penis in a "semi-erect" state and asked if she thought "it was nice".

On December 14, Phillips also began messaging a decoy account on Meet4U called 'Scarlett', operated by an adult who also posed as a 14-year-old. Mr Blasbery told the court Phillips began making sexualised comments and told her he slept naked, and began asking about her breasts. Phillips also told the decoy "not to tell her mum".

At this point, Dank Dragons called on Stop UK to help and Phillips was confronted outside the Farmer's Arms pub in Moreton, Wirral. Mr Blasbery said Phillips, who has no previous convictions, refused to answer any questions in his police interview.

Lionel Greig, defending, said his client had been living an "isolated" existence during lockdown, with his 71-year-old mum who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. He also said his client had lost his dad in 2018.

Mr Greig urged the court to spare his client immediate custody, and order intervention to address his behaviour and prevent him from re-offending, rather than a prison sentence.

The judge, Recorder Mark Ainsworth, agreed to spare Phillips immediate custody, telling the pervert addressing his perverted behaviour in the long term would benefit society more than a prison sentence.

He said: "I have to make an assessment of the prospect of rehabilitation in this case, having read the pre-sentence report I do believe there is a good prospect of rehabilitation in this case and I have a duty to society."

Phillips, of Ivy Lane, Moreton, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, and told he must sign the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years. He was also ordered to complete the Horizon course for sex offenders and to complete 40 Rehabilitation Activity Days with the Probation Service.

He was also told to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order severely restricting his internet usage.

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 A convicted sex offender was found in possession of one of the worst baby abuse videos "anyone can imagine".

Adam Park had downloaded the sickening clip of an adult man sexually assaulting the one-year-old child, which was then found during a routine police check.

Officers then discovered the 41-year-old had also used a Tor browser to access the dark web.

It meant Park, of Fenton, Staffordshire, was in breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for making and possessing indecent images of children.

He was jailed for 20 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Mark Brookes said Park was made the subject of a-three year community order and a five-year SHPO in 2016 which was due to expire on April 29, 2021.

 Mr Brookes said a police risk assessor visited Park's home to carry out a risk assessment on April 18, 2020 , reports StokeonTrentLive.

Officers returned on April 6, 2021 and inspected a computer tower and Park was arrested.

It showed a Category A indecent image - the most serious - had been accessed.

Mr Brookes added: "It involved an adult man sexually abusing a one-year-old child.

"The report concluded he used Tor, a streaming facility enabling online anonymity."

Park pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a SHPO and making an indecent image of a child. Hamish Noble, mitigating, said Park has had a problem with alcohol.

Mr Noble said: "He was living with his parents. He had no social outlets. He has never had a long term relationship.

"He had a job he found stressful. He felt put upon by colleagues and bosses. He had dyslexia as a child and was bullied at school.

"He used the Tor browser. He accepts accessing the category A image. The opinion of the report is that he can be managed in the community."

Judge David Fletcher said: "You were convicted in 2016 of a number of offences of possession of indecent images of children.

"You were coming to the end of the notification period when there was a visit by the officer overseeing your compliance and that resulted in the information we now have before us.

"There were two breaches of the SHPO. The first related to your deletion of internet history and also utilising the Tor system on your computer. It enabled you to access the dark web.

"It is clear there was an image, a moving image of a child, probably one of the worst images anyone can imagine, placed on the system.

"The real concern I have is the lack of real progress following the order made in 2016. It is a very serious breach."

Park will serve half the sentence in custody and the rest on licence. He was made the subject of a SHPO for 10 years.

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An escort and OnlyFans model who was caught with child abuse images five years ago has appeared in court for breaching the original terms of her sentence.

Jodiee Hart, 32, from Stoke, Staffordshire, was given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in November 2017 for having indecent images of children on her phone.

This week she pleaded guilty at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court for not registering social media accounts, downloading Snapchat, and using alias JenniferXXX for online accounts including OnlyFans.

However, the escort and OnlyFans model told MailOnline her trial was 'unethical' and it was 'unfair' that she was prosecuted when she was just 'trying to get on with my life'.

She has an OnlyFans account that promises photos and videos every week for less than 10 per month and an escorting profile where she charges 150 per hour.

When Staffordshire Police confronted the escort, who is also a webcam model, on December 7, 2021, she had image and messaging app Snapchat on her phone.

Prosecutor Richard McConaghy said: 'There had been a discussion that that was a breach of the SHPO and the Snapchat was deleted. But Snapchat was put back on the phone by January.'

Police found she had reinstalled the app in January this year and also saw the name JenniferXXX, which had not been registered.

Hart admitted in her police interview that she re-downloaded Snapchat because she wanted to talk to someone.

She said she was lonely and the previous police force in Runcorn, Cheshire, where she used to live, allowed her to use Snapchat.

Hart pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register and breaching an SHPO.

She did not think to re-register the OnlyFans account as it remained the same as when she was in Runcorn.

The sex offender also used Snapchat in Runcorn as it was acceptable to the police there and she did not hide the reinstallation of the app.

Yet since pleading guilty Hart has railed against the judicial system and the police.

She said sending and receiving sexual images from a child was a 'mistake' but she was 'so sick of being referred to as a 'pervert' or 'sex offender''.

Hart told MailOnline: 'In 2015, I was chatting to someone via Skype and Snapchat and had received and sent images of a sexual nature. I was prosecuted.

'[It's] a mistake that has lived with me since and I carry guilt and shame.

'2015 was a bit of a rough time, having had a broken-down relationship, drug misuse, alcohol misuse and homelessness. I feel it may have played a part to why I did what I did.

'I come from a background of abuse as a child, neglection and homelessness as a teen.

'I started an OnlyFans in 2018 because I wanted to be creative whilst having fun. I registered this with Runcorn [police]. I also had a Snapchat account.

'In 2020, I had completed two years of probation, had counselling and applied for university. By 2021 I moved from Runcorn and started studying video game design.

'The police want you to re-offend. They decided to breach me on the condition I did not register the [OnlyFans] name with police and it did not match the one they had on system. It's quite easy to make a mistake with a username.'

The prosecution said Hart redownloaded Snapchat because she was lonely, which she said was partly true.

However, she gave MailOnline other conflicting reasons as well.

She said: 'The reason I downloaded Snapchat again was because I was managing a university society'.

Yet later she said it was 'mainly to manage a potential university society I wanted to begin'.

Ms Hart also told MailOnline she felt 'silenced in court' and her trial was 'unethical' and 'did not resemble a fair trial'.

She said: 'It's not every day someone is taken to court for having an OnlyFans account. This was the last thing I needed.

'I am so sick of being referred to as a 'pervert' or 'sex offender'. People can make mistakes in life, they can also learn and move on. It's unfair.'

She added: 'I am just trying to get on with my life.'

Hart said her friends have been sent death threats and she will quit university.

She said: 'I've lost everything. How are offenders of any background supposed to fix their lives if we don't give them a chance?'

Jason Holt, mitigating, said: 'For a number of years she has been using Snapchat in Runcorn. She was under no illusion Staffordshire Police said she should not use it but she reinstalled it.

'That was more out of annoyance rather than to do something underhand. It was not for an unlawful purpose that she reinstalled it. It was because she was annoyed.'

Judge Sally Hancox gave Hart a two-year community order and the escort must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 days.

The judge also made a deprivation order for Hart's mobile phone.

Judge Hancox said: 'You failed to comply with notification requirements. A different name was used which was not registered.

'The use of Snapchat is a breach of your SHPO because it is an automatic deleting app. The app was reinstated.'

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A man who raped a 15-year-old girl has been jailed for 12 years after he "turned her life upside-down". Jacob Curley, 32, was found guilty of rape by a jury following a trial and was also found guilty of sexual assault and assault by penetration. He had denied the offences against him.

A victim impact statement read out by prosecutor Ieuan Bennett at Cardiff Crown Court said: “This incident has affected me a lot. It has completely torn my family apart and turned my life upside-down." The victim added: "He is the reason my life is not going the way I planned [...] He really has ruined my life and I feel that I have completely lost my identity."

Mr Bennett told the court that Curley, of Harlequin Road, Newport, had 15 previous convictions for 39 offences. There were no previous convictions for sex offences. Joshua Scouller, representing the defendant, said that Curley was a father and that the offences against the victim were "relatively short-lived."

“Despite overwhelming scientific evidence of your DNA you did not plead guilty and you put her through the ordeal of a trial,” Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant. He added: "I have read with care [the victim’s] victim impact statement in this case and I say immediately it is difficult to imagine a more profound impact than these events have had and continue to have on the complainant."

He continued: “She continues to struggle and her life has been turned upside-down by these events.” Judge Jenkins sentenced the defendant to a total of 12 years in prison. Curley will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and was also given a restraining order which will last indefinitely.

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A VILE and dangerous sex predator has been locked up after grooming a child on Snapchat and then raping her.

Earlier this year, Shah Sikander began communicating with the 14-year-old victim on the social media platform.

The 36-year-old deliberately tricked her into thinking he was a 22-year-old man called Sanchez, and he even sent her a photograph of a younger man, falsely claiming that to be him.

The victim had been clear she was under the age of 16 throughout her online communication with Sikander.

Before meeting his victim, Sikander offered to shower her with gifts, talked about meeting up for sex and successfully convinced her to send sexualised images of herself to him.

Having set up the meeting, Sikander travelled from his Warrington home to meet the victim in Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire on July 15.

He drove her to a remote location in Preston and raped her, before dropping her off in Blackpool town centre.

The victim told her family what had happened later the same evening.

Lancashire Police launched an investigation and Sikander was identified via CCTV footage of him dropping the victim off. He was arrested on the M6 the following day.

Presented with overwhelming evidence, Sikander, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to rape, child abduction and sexual communication with a child at Preston Crown Court

Judge Guy Mathieson described the defendant as a dangerous sexual predator and jailed him for 12 years.

Sikander was also ordered to sign the sex offender register for life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. 

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A man kidnapped and sexually attacked a teenager after spotting her outside a nightclub.

Michael Owen, 34, saw the 16-year-old girl outside a club in Leigh at 5am on March 13, 2022. Owen approached the girl, who was drunk, and helped her back on her feet, under the premise that he was looking out for her.

He then helped her into a taxi, telling the driver to drop them off at his home on Bridgewater Street in Hindley. Once there, the girl said she remembered waking up in Owen’s bed partially clothed and screaming to go home, but was told by Owen he was just looking after her.

Giving evidence to Manchester Crown Court via video link, she reported her memory was very patchy but she remembered someone banging on Owen’s front door. This was her father, who had obtained Owen's address from the taxi driver, who had answered the phone the teen dropped in his taxi when her father rang it.

The court heard how Owen had called 999 to report someone banging on his front door, while at the same time the father was ringing the police to report his daughter was being kept against her will. When police attended a few minutes later and the circumstances were determined, Owen was immediately arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

The teenager was taken to hospital for examination. Owen pleaded guilty to the kidnap and assault of the 16-year-old and was jailed for seven years and six months at Manchester Crown Court.

Jailing Owen, the Judge deemed him to be a dangerous offender and handed down an extended licence period of four years, with a lifetime restraining order against the victim. He was additionally subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), with the conditions to be agreed by the prosecution, defence and probation at a later date.

Detective Sergeant Chris Preston from Wigan CID said: “We are very pleased with today’s result. Owen is a dangerous individual who preyed on this young girl for his own use, under the guise of being helpful and looking out for her.

“We are extremely grateful to the victim and her family, for the support they have given GMP throughout this investigation, which has led to this successful conviction. We would encourage anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual assault, to dial 999 and speak to one of our team. We will listen to you and we will do everything we can to bring the perpetrator(s) to justice.

“If you commit these crimes, we will find you and we will ensure that you are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

If you or someone you know has been raped or sexually assaulted, Greater Manchester Police is encouraging people to not to suffer in silence and report it to the police, or a support agency.

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He is an East Yorkshire farmer who presented himself as a charitable fundraiser who made regular trips to Nepal to help impoverished communities.

A pillar of his community, Ian Banks raised thousands of pounds to help build a hospital in the Himalayas and regularly took gifts from locals, including on one trip 100 knitted teddies, for Nepalese children.

But this week Banks has been exposed as a sex offender who used his connections in Nepal to become involved in child sexual exploitation. At Hull Crown Court, he admitted charges connected to the sexual abuse of children.

The court heard Banks had initially been arrested in 2019 and it was suspected at the time that he had been involved in "significantly more serious" matters, but these were not pursued against him.

But on the day he was due to face trial on lesser charges this week, Banks admitted sexual abuse charges relating to his activities in Nepal. One of the charges involved the abuse of babies and toddlers.

Although he was not involved in the actual sexual abuse of "incredibly small children" by his activities, he was still helping to fuel the sick trade, the court heard.

Retired farmer Banks, of Dunnington, near Driffield, also admitted attempting to cause or incite the sexual exploitation of a 17-year-old boy in May 2014 by asking him to be involved in pornography through sending an indecent image of his body.

He also admitted two offences of making an indecent image of a child, one in the most serious Category A and the other in Category C, on March 5, 2019. Banks had pleaded guilty on the day of a scheduled trial before magistrates.

James Holding, prosecuting, said that Banks had regularly visited Nepal and had a number of Nepalese business cards. He was arrested at his home on March 5, 2019 and his phone was searched. He was taken into police custody but made no comment.

Chat logs were found on Facebook in which he had asked for naked pictures to be sent to him. He had said that it would be "totally their secret". He was sent a Category A image.

There was a further chat and a Category C image was sent. The activities of Banks had caused the sexual exploitation of a child, said Mr Holding. Pictures of children aged one, two and three years old were involved but Banks seemed to think that they were, in his word, "funny".

Ian Phillip, mitigating, said that Banks was arrested in 2019 and it was suspected at the time that he had been involved in other "significantly more serious" matters, but these were not pursued against him.

The images were recovered from numerous chat logs. "It was not suggested that he had been seeking out these images online," said Mr Phillip. "Nevertheless, he was sent them. They are at the less serious end of the scale of offences that appear at this court."

Banks had been on bail for 13 months, with a curfew. He was of previous good character and had been assessed as being at a low risk of re-offending. "There is no suggestion that, since his arrest in 2019, there have been any concerns whatever," said Mr Phillip.

Judge Sophie McKone told Banks: "These are very young children but they are not contact offences."

A 17-year-old boy was involved in the attempted sexual exploitation offence and "incredibly small children" were featured in the indecent images offences.

"I accept that you didn't ask for these images but you kept them," said Judge McKone. "You asked for indecent photos of somebody who was 17 and that's illegal. That person was a child and that should not have happened.

"The courts do take very seriously the possession of indecent images of children. There may be only three images but the children are real children and they are actually being abused. Although you have not touched a child yourself, you do contribute to the abuse of children in some way by retaining those images."

Judge McKone said there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in his case. Banks was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence, 30 days' rehabilitation and a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He must register as a sex offender for 10 years. A computer will be forfeited.

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A convicted sex offender who set up as an online clairvoyant has been sent back to jail.

Under a false name, Llewelyn Buckland posted Tarot readings, some of which were sexual, a judge at Caernarfon crown court heard.

Appearing via video link from prison Buckland, 48, of Frankwell Street, Tywyn in south Gwynedd, admitted five charges involving downloading indecent images of children and of extreme porn, and breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

It happened soon after release from a previous sentence.

Simon Rogers, defending, said there had been no sophistication in the latest offences.

"It was inevitable he would be caught because his phone was not only monitored by software but checked by police," he added.

Jailing him for 16 months Judge Timothy Petts said : “The main aggravating feature was your previous offences.”

A sex offenders’ order remains in operation for life.

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Ashley Reeves was found to be using a number of names on games platform Steam - but his solicitor said it was just 'stupidity'

A high risk sex offender was found to be using a number of aliases on a games platform, a court heard.

Ashley Reeves was using the false usernames, including 'lesbian w**** house and 'eat my gas', when police inspected his computer during a routine check.

The Stockton man pleaded guilty to breaching a requirement of the sex offenders register when he appeared before Teesside Magistrates' Court.

Anne Mitchell, prosecuting, said the 27-year-old, who has 28 previous convictions, 13 of which are for sexual offences, is on the high risk sex offenders register and as part of his conditions he is not allowed to use aliases online and officers can regularly assess the situation.

Ms Mitchell said in April this year when carrying out an assessment officers found a number of aliases associated with Reeves' Steam account, which is a gaming platform. She said: "There were a number of alias names attached to the account."

The prosecutor said Reeves lives with his partner and she told police that she didn't use the computer and didn't have a Steam account.

Defending, Brett Wildridge, said his client has autism and conduct disorder and used the Steam account to purchase games. He said the account itself is registered with the police and his client didn't believe anyone else could see the profile names.

Mr Wildridge said Reeves, of Consett Close, wasn't trying to conceal his identity, it was just 'stupidity'. He said: "It was stupid using them. It is a child's mind in an adult body."

The case was adjourned until November 30 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

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A CONVICTED sex offender was jailed for 18 months for breaching multiple sexual harm prevention orders and possessing extreme pornographic images of sex with animals.

In Bradford Crown Court, Philip Robst, 40, of HMP and YOI Moorland, Bawtry Road, Lindholme, Doncaster, was sent to prison for 18 months after pleading guilty to five offences, including possessing extreme pornographic images depicting sex with animals, an offence committed in Bradford on September 24, 2021.

On May 19, 2021, he was charged with breaching sexual harm prevention orders including subscribing to Snapchat which includes file-based storage, refusing to allow access to inspect any device or electronic data and deleting history from hardware or a device.

On May 19, 2021, he was also charged with failing to comply with requirements in relation to the sex offender's register.

Prosecutor David Ward said Robst was previously convicted of offences of sexual activity with a child.

Mr Ward said: "This is clearly a deliberate breach and it's all aggravated by his previous conviction."

Robst's defence solicitor said: "Mr Robst found himself isolated because of Covid and found solace in pornography."

But he added that the defendant had admitted his "stupidity" and "accepted his behaviour at the earliest opportunity".

In sentencing Robst to 18 months, Recorder Alex Menary, said: "The police found eight extreme images of sex with animals, seven still and one moving, on your device and there were many other images deleted." 

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A man who abducted an 11-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her has been jailed.

Samuel Cortez, of Nether Street, North Finchley, was sentenced at Harrow Crown Court last Thursday (November 10) for the abduction of the girl.

The court heard that the girl was at a bus stop near Sussex Ring in Woodside Park on September 30, 2021, when she was approached by Cortez at 4pm. 

 The girl was told he had a knife before she was grabbed by the wrist and taken to the park and sexually assaulted.

An appeal was launched after CCTV showed the suspect in the area and Cortez was arrested on December 15 last year. 

 Cortez pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a child under 13.

He was jailed for nine years for sexual assault and sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment for child abduction, to run concurrently.

The judge ruled Cortez would be on licence for five years after completing his sentence and must sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Detective Constable Chris Finnegan of the North West Command Unit said: “This was a terrifying ordeal for the young girl but she, with the support of her family, has shown immense courage and strength in supporting our investigation.” 

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A paedophile travelled from Northern Ireland to Merseyside and raped a girl in hotels and fields after grooming her on Snapchat.

David McMullan sent his teenage victim a string of gifts before flying over to sexually abuse her four times over the course of around 18 months. On one occasion, the 32-year-old plied her with drugs which knocked her out - before she awoke to find him having sex with her.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Friday, that the "sexual offences arose from an online relationship dating back to 2019". Frank Dillon, prosecuting, described how McMullan "initiated contact" with the youngster via Snapchat when she was aged 12.

He told her that his name was Sean Maxwell, he was 16 and from London - when he was actually approaching his 30th birthday and lived in County Down, Northern Ireland. The pervert would turn his phone off between 8am and 3pm to keep up the charade that he was at school.

After around three months of messaging, McMullan sent her a picture of his penis and "begged her to send him" indecent images of herself. Mr Dillon said: "She was reluctant to do so but he would persist with his requests and, adopting a form of emotional blackmail that was to characterise his contact, he suggested if she was not sending such pictures to him then she must be sending them to someone else.

"He went so far as to say that he would kill himself if she did not stop talking to this imaginary other boy. He would tell her that she did not love him, because if she did she would send him the requested pictures."

The two became "boyfriend and girlfriend", after which McMullan confessed his true location and said that he was aged 19 - later revising this to 23. He sent a parcel to her home on Valentine's Day containing a card with a picture of her face on it and a photograph of a man he purported was himself - as well as a teddy bear, a hoodie, £30 in cash, lubricant and a bubble wand.

The defendant travelled to see the by then 13-year-old four times, but first made a "reconnaissance mission" - taking an EasyJet flight from Belfast and staying at the Premier Inn in Birkenhead and the Village Hotel in Whiston over the course of his three-night visit to the area to "check how easy it might be to take her to a hotel room without challenge". When they did meet for the first time they went to a burger restaurant then took a bus to the Whiston hotel, travelling separately "as not to arouse suspicion".

Once in his room, McMullan gave her a Pandora bracelet. He told her he had cocaine and "pressurised her into" sniffing white powder from a key.

The substance caused her to fall asleep, and she woke up to find him raping her. After realising she was awake McMullan began kissing her, ran a bath and "picked her up and put her in".

On his second visit, he brought her chocolates and met her in a field near her home where he filmed them having sex. The vile predator met her again after school the same day, buying her a Dr Pepper and giving her a sex toy before taking her into woodland and raping her.

After travelling over for a third time, McMullan took the teeanger to the Birkenhead hotel - telling her to pretend to staff that he was her dad and he was visiting her from Ireland. He then raped the schoolgirl in his room despite her "repeatedly telling him to get off".

On his final visit, she was "extremely reluctant to meet him" but agreed to meet him in the field near her home after he said he "had wasted all his money making him come over to see her". While she was "really upset, crying and shaking", McMullan exposed himself to her and forced her to perform a sex act on him.

He made threats to distribute naked pictures and videos she had sent him to her friends and family if she did not "comply", as well as threatening to kill himself. At one stage, the sex offender "deleted any reference to him" from her phone and blocked her on Snapchat.

His crimes were uncovered when the girl reported the abuse to a member of staff at her school. McMullan was arrested at his home on Demesne View in Downpatrick in March this year.

Under interview, he falsely claimed he had began speaking to a 19-year-old woman with a different name on a dating app - either Tinder or Plenty of Fish. He stated she had blackmailed him by threatening to report him for sexual offences unless he gave her money and denied having pretended to be Sean Maxwell.

A statement which was read out to the court on behalf of the victim's mum said the family's "lives had been turned upside down". Meanwhile, her sister described how she "feels like nothing is real and everything is stressful and frightening".

Fiona McNeill, defending, said: "This is a distressing case with many troubling aspects. The impact of these offences has a ripple effect.

"That has been recognised, at least in part, by the defendant. The impact will remain with them for some time to come, if not forever.

"This is the first experience of custody Mr McMullan has had, and the prospect of a lengthy custodial sentence weighs heavily on him. He will spend his middle age in prison."

McMullan, who has no previous convictions, admitted four counts of rape on the first day of a scheduled trial after the complainant had given evidence under pre-recorded cross-examination. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Under Armour zip-up tracksuit top, he was jailed for 19 years with an additional five years on licence.

Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "Over a period approaching two years you groomed, exploited and then repeatedly raped a young girl. You have no previous convictions, but that is of limited worth in these circumstances.

"I find them to be grave and very troubling offences, painting a very worrying picture of your personality. I am satisfied that you are a dangerous offender."

McMullan was handed a restraining order, a sexual harm prevention order and a notification requirement - all of which will be run indefinitely. Forfeiture of his Samsung phone was also ordered.