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Description

A 42-year-old Southampton man has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of child sex offences.

David Richman, of Landguard Road, Southampton, was convicted of four offences against a child under the age of 13.

Following the initial report in 2020, Richman was sentenced this morning at Southampton Crown Court. He has also been placed on the sex offenders register.

Following the sentencing, Police Staff Investigator Christopher Manning, from the Child Abuse Investigation Team, said, “First and foremost, I would like to praise this young victim for the bravery she has shown in ensuring this sexual offender has been brought to justice.

“Her courage also means that this offender is now behind bars and unable to abuse anyone else.

“I hope that this sentence goes some way to helping the victim move forward with her life.

“I also hope this sentence will reassure other victims that they will be listened to when reporting similar incidents to us.

“We encourage others who have suffered this type of abuse to come forward and speak to us.

“We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and work hard to bring offenders to justice."

Description

A man has been jailed for six years for historical child sexual offences dating back to 1998.

Richard John Tilley, 52, of no fixed address, was convicted of three counts of indecent assault following a trial at Lincoln Crown Court.

All offences involved the same victim, Lincolnshire Police said.

Tilley was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Investigating officer Det Con Caroline Pendell said: "I would like to thank the victim for having the courage to come forward and having the confidence in the police and criminal justice system to bring the offender to justice.

"The victim in this case has remarkable strength and courage."

Description

A woman ‘pretended to be asleep’ during a sex attack perpetrated by a Chippenham man.

42-year-old Nicholas Hodges was convicted of assault by penetration and sexual assault by a jury at Salisbury Crown Court on 14 September.

At a previous hearing, prosecutor Asha Seenauth said the defendant had been invited back to a woman’s address with another man following a night out in Chippenham in 2022.

The woman put her children to bed and continued drinking with Hodges and the other man. When she went to bed, he sent her a message asking if he could come and give her a hug.

After she ignored his message, Hodges entered her bedroom and kissed her neck and lips as she pretended to be asleep. The other man is said to have told Hedges to leave her room and he did.

A short time later, he have returned to her bedroom – where he started kissing her neck before lifting her leg and sexually assaulting her digitally.

 The victim “froze” during the sex attack, which is said to have lasted approximately two minutes.

Hodges, of Charter Road, Chippenham, will be sentenced on 17 November. An offence of assault by penetration carries up to 19 years imprisonment.

Description

An evil sex offender and career criminal has been jailed yet again after he breached a sexual-harm prevention order designed to protect children.

Garry Dover Afflick, 57, formerly of Northallerton, was under a strict order not to delete his search history from any internet-enabled device, York Crown Court heard.

But following an impromptu visit to his home by his police offender manager in May, it emerged that the former crack-cocaine dealer – who has over 170 offences to his name including kidnap, blackmail and many “horrific” sex offences against young boys – had deleted data from his Samsung phone.

Prosecutor Jemima Stephenson said Afflick had been placed on the order after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children in October 2017.

He denied breaching the lifetime order but was convicted following a trial at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court earlier this year.

When his offender manager turned up at his home on May 24 for a routine inspection, Afflick told him his phone had been stolen in Scarborough town centre.

“He said he bought a new phone which he registered (with police) within three weeks,” said Ms Stephenson.

He said that his original phone had subsequently been found and that he had tried to sell it at a pawnbroker’s but that the shop wouldn’t take it, so he sold it to a friend.

However, police enquiries revealed that the shop made Affleck sign a form confirming he had re-set the phone to “factory settings”, thereby deleting its history, and that he had sold it to the shop, which he ultimately accepted but denied deleting any data.

Afflick, formerly of Ashlands Court, Northallerton, but lately of Pavilion Square, Scarborough, appeared for sentence on Friday, September 22, after being remanded in custody.

Ms Stephenson said Afflick had 32 previous convictions for 170 offences including sexual attacks against children dating back to the 1990s. These included indecent assault against a boy under 14 years of age, failing to comply with notification requirements as a registered sex offender and making indecent images of children.

In October 2017, he was jailed for 19 months for seven counts of possessing indecent images of children.

In November 2019, he was jailed for three years and four months at York Crown Court for a previous breach of the sexual-harm prevention order by befriending a family with a young child.

Afflick started offending when he was just 13 years of age, subsequently wracking up convictions for burglary, theft, public disorder, handling stolen goods, serious violence, supplying Class A drugs, kidnapping and blackmail.

In 1997, he was jailed for 14 years for indecently assaulting a boy under the age of 16, upon which he was branded a “Fagin-style” sex offender.

In 2013, at Teesside Crown Court, he was given an order banning him from having contact with boys under the age of 18.

In 2001, he was jailed for five years at Winchester Crown Court for two counts of indecently assaulting a child under 14 and a serious sex assault of a boy under 16.

Description

A 55-year-old former Suffolk teacher with an “entrenched sexual interest in children” has been jailed for nine years and two months for sexual assaulting a vulnerable former pupil.

Mark Langford met the girl while he was a middle school teacher in Suffolk, but he only began sexually abusing her after a chance meeting on a beach when she was 15, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Marc Brown, prosecuting, said the victim had a number of problems which made her vulnerable to abuse.

He said Langford had sent her fantasy stories and pictures of himself in his underwear.

“The sexual contact between the defendant and the victim was born out of an imbalance of power and he took advantage of her youth, naivety and sexual immaturity and groomed her,” said Mr Brown.

He said Langford had picked the girl up from school and had groped her and put his hands inside her underwear.

The court heard he had also attempted to persuade her what she should tell the police if they contacted her.

Mr Brown said police officers had found indecent images of children on Langford’s electronic devices and on-line conversations with other people with a sexual interest in children in which he described having had a "lucky perv moment" when he had looked up a pupil’s skirt when she was bending down in class and commenting: “It’s going to be a fun year”.

He also said he "a lot of kinks" that wouldn't be approved of and how shocked his pupils would be if they knew he liked looking at indecent images of children younger than them.

Langford of Ingleton Camforth, North Yorkshire, admitted eight offences of indecency with a child, two offences of indecent assault and one offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He also admitted three offences of making indecent images of children, possessing 109 extreme pornographic images, possessing 199 prohibited images of children and distributing indecent images of children.

The charges of making indecent images of children relate to 654 indecent images of children and 30 movies in the most serious level A category, 514 still images in category B and 1,528 still images and 11 movies in the least serious level C category which had been downloaded over a period of six years.

Judge Martyn Levett described Langford as a dangerous offender with "an entrenched sexual interest in children" and jailed him for nine years and two months with an extended licence period of four years and eight months.

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

In a statement read to the court the victim described the offences as “abhorrent “ and said Langford “disgusted her to the core”.

She described him as “devious and manipulative” and said she was haunted by the way he had sexually abused her.

Juliet Donovan for Langford said he had been a maths and science teacher for 25 years and was genuinely remorseful.

She said that since his arrest he’d lost his wife, family, friends, and home and had sought help from a child protection charity.

Description

A retired fire chief has been placed on the sex offenders register after he was caught with child sex abuse images.

Jamie McMurtrie – who had 30 years service with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – was found to have downloaded indecent images of children to his mobile phone when police raided his home on August 24 last year.

The former crew manager retired from duty in 2016 and had been working as a Heritage volunteer with the fire service between June 2022 and June this year.

McMurtrie, 58, admitted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month to possessing the pictures and he was back in the dock for sentencing on Thursday.

Sheriff Anderson placed McMurtrie on a six-month supervision order and issued a conduct requirement that prohibits him from owning devices that can access the internet without prior permission.

McMurtrie was also placed on the sex offenders register for six months and banned from having any contact with children under 18 unless authorised by his supervising officer.

Description

A former Tunbridge Wells resident who used social media apps in attempts to groom children for sexual abuse has been jailed for seven years.

Gareth Lucas repeatedly sent explicit images to the profiles of two children he believed were only 14 years old.

Operating under the alias of ‘Garfuncle Lucas’, between 2 August and 13 November 2019 he accessed Facebook and instant messaging apps to seek out and contact victims.

Despite receiving several replies, clearly stating they were 14 and were at school, Lucas bombarded two children with messages of an explicit nature, urging them to engage in sexual activity and to send him indecent images.

Lucas also made efforts to meet one of them in Sevenoaks, where he planned to carry out abuse on a train.

Phone hacking claims

Unbeknown to him, the children did not exist – their profiles were linked to fictitious accounts. He was arrested in Tunbridge Wells on 12 November 2019 and taken into custody.

During police interviews, Lucas initially denied responsibility and claimed his phone ‘had been hacked’.

At Maidstone Crown Court, he admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and three counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

Lucas denied a further charge of attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence but was found guilty following a trial.

On Friday 22 September 2023, Lucas, 31, of Hollingworth Road, Maidstone was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, with an extended licence period of four years.

Upon his release from custody, he will be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He was also added to the sex offender register for life.

Hugely concerning

Detective Constable Carl Evans, of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said: ‘Lucas made persistent and repeated efforts to contact children for the purposes of his own gratification. He has displayed a clear desire to meet and abuse them, and the graphic detail and demands he included in his messages was hugely concerning.'This case also acts as a reminder to parents of children who have mobile phones and tablets to speak to them and help them understand the precautions they should take when using the internet, or the many instant messaging services that are available.'Children should only communicate with people that they know personally and report any suspicions or inappropriate advances from strangers to their parents, schools, or the police.’

Description

A SCHOOLGIRL subjected to grooming behaviour and unwanted sexual touching by a 55-year-old west Cumbrian man bravely told a court how the offending changed her life.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Paul Henderson listened in silence as the teenager described the devastating impact of his crime. 

At an earlier hearing before magistrates, the defendant, of Firth View Walk, Workington, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexually touching the girl over her clothing.

Prosecutor Paul Brookwell outlined the facts.

On the day of the sexual assault, said the barrister, Henderson initially began “joking around” with the girl but the teenager later reported that his facial expression suddenly changed, and he began touching her sexually.

He suggested the girl she liked what he was doing - but the teenager ran away and immediately reported what happened to a friend.

A short time later, there was then a confrontation between people who were made aware of the offence and the defendant, with Henderson telling them: “I don’t know what came over me; I am so sorry.”

He then drove into the Lake District, feeling suicidal and guilty after admitting what he had done, said Mr Brookwell. Henderson’s family reported him missing.

Twelve hours later, when police found him, he told the officers: “I’ve done something I should not have done.”

At the police station, he made full admissions and accepted the teenager’s account of what he had done. Before touching the girl, the defendant told her that he wished he too was a teenager so he could spend a day with her.

Everybody in the court, including the girl's family, listened as the teenager stood in the witness stand and read her victim impact statement, outlining the impact of the offending. She wanted Henderson to hear her account as she faced him across the courtoom. 

“Since this incident,” she began, “I have been anxious about everything – even leaving the house." Whenever she sees a bald white man – a reference to the defendant – her stomach jumps and she begins to feel sick and shakes, she said.

She was unable to shut what happened from her mind. “I just don’t feel safe,” the teenager told the court, recalling how the memory of defendant’s face - which became "serious and creepy' as he committed the offence - kept replaying in her mind.

“It can happen any time but is normally worse at night,” she continued. “I feel scared and get a knot in my stomach."

Daniel Bramhall, defending, said the defendant had never before been before a court and he felt ashamed of his behaviour and disgusted with himself.

“This behaviour is completely out of character,” said the barrister.

“He simply does not have an explanation for what happened. He accepts it was a foolish and stupid mistake but can’t give any explanation for why the offence took place. He has suffered from issues with his mental health.

“He is supported by his family, who remain supportive of him with the full knowledge of what took place.”

Character references painted a different picture of Henderson to the man who committed the offence.

Though his family did not condone what Henderson had done, they spoke of his reliability and how he continues to be there for them.

Mr Bramhall added that the defendant had been assessed as posing a low risk of reoffending and he presented a realistic prospect for rehabilitation. “He is absolutely terrified of going to prison,” added the barrister.

Recorder Eric Lamb told the defendant: “You have been in court to hear the consequences of your selfish sexual act.” The victim was vulnerable and the impact on her was abundantly clear from the statement.

The judge accepted Henderson felt remorse but noted the "element of grooming" in his behaviour before he committed the sexual assault. Recorder Lamb imposed a six-month jail term, suspended 18 months, saying that rehabilitation work with the Probation Service would provide wider protection for society.

The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for seven years and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Description

A former sports coach from Portsmouth who supplied naked images of swimming pupils to an Australian paedophile has been convicted.

Terry Neale, aged 55, was identified after a contact of his, Stephen Porter, was arrested in June 2020 by officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

Porter was convicted of child sexual exploitation offences in September last year and jailed for 20 years. The pair had known each other for more than 20 years and met up in Australia when Porter was coaching youth Australian football players.

AFP officers recovered videos taken by Neale in 2013 of a young boy getting dressed after bathing at his house. Neale can be seen speaking with the child and providing towels.

Other videos shared by Neale showed pupils getting changed at swimming pools in the Portsmouth area. In one video, Neale appears to place a bag on a bench and adjusts a hidden camera. He’s then seen walking around the changing room and talking to naked boys.

In further videos of children’s swimming lessons, taken with a hidden camera in August 2013, Neale is wearing wet clothing and goggles, suggesting he has been in the water with pupils.

He was employed by a swimming school at the time and also worked as a local amateur youth football coach for various teams, none of which had knowledge of his offending until it was discovered by the AFP.

The victims in the UK videos have been spoken to and safeguarded.

Neale was arrested by NCA officers at his home address in January 2021.

He appeared at Winchester Crown Court today (27 September) where he pleaded guilty to voyeurism and indecent images of children offences (possessing and making).

One count of arranging / facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under 13 and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images will lie on file.

He is due to be sentenced at the same court on 15 January 2024.

NCA Operations Manager Martin Ludlow said: "Terry Neale flagrantly abused the position of trust he’d held in the community in the most shocking way.

"He should have been someone to be looked up to and admired, but instead he preyed on innocent young children to satisfy his and Stephen Porter’s sexual gratification. His offending was cowardly and devious.

"The NCA will continue to do all it can, in collaboration with international partners like the Australian Federal Police, to pursue offenders like Neale and protect the victims of online child sexual abuse."

Description

A sex offender's last minute trip to Amsterdam nearly landed him in prison.

Ellis Cunningham is a convicted rapist who sexually abused a girl he met on Facebook. Despite repeatedly and regularly flouting conditions which have been imposed upon him in order to protect the public, a judge today gave him "one last chance".

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday that the 26-year-old was convicted of rape in 2016 after having sexual activity with a 12-year-old girl following contact on the social media network. Joshua Sanderson-Kirk, prosecuting, described how Ellis was handed a 24-month imprisonment suspended for 10 years, as well as a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and a notification requirement last the same period.

The latter order requires him to notify police of any foreign travel at least a week prior to departure. But the force was alerted that he had re-entered the country on February 13 this year after spending four days in Amsterdam.

Cunningham, of Burley Close in Kirkby, later made a "full and frank admission" after voluntarily attending a police station. He has eight previous convictions for nine offences, including breaching the requirements of the sex offenders' register on six occasions in 2017, 2018, and 2021 which have seen him serve short prison sentences on several occasions.

The court was told that he had obtained his passport only five weeks before his visit to the Netherlands, and that the defendant claimed he had only been invited onto the trip abroad at five days' notice. Charles Lander, defending, conceded that his client had "unimpressive antecedents for similar offences" but highlight his full-time, self-employed role as a specialist groundworker providing services in relation to BT's WiFi coverage.

He added: "He can be and is a viable member of society. He understands his stupidity."

Cunningham admitted failing to comply with the sex offenders' register. He was handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months plus 80 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 10 days.

Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "It is a matter of public concern that a man subject to notification requirements travels to another country where he is not subject to any supervision. This is a serious and deliberate breach and there are no excuses.

"You knew exactly what you were doing. With your experience with the courts, you knew what the consequences could be.

"Letters from your family speak of the progress you have made and your good employment. With hesitation, I am going to give you one last chance, but I mean last.

"If I see you again, you are going through that door. I am not convinced by you. I won't be the slightest bit surprised if I see you again in the next 18 months. If I do, you are getting that full sentence immediately."

Description

A man has been jailed for sexually assaulting a young girl. Gary Blount appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing having been found guilty by a jury after trial of two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

Defence barrister Ian Ibrahim, representing Blount, said: "He had a number of successful businesses and was the main income for his family. He was a sound technician, he would do lighting and events, security, and a number of other things. That's all gone now. He is in custody, and was reduced to living with his parents.

"His relationships have gone, his businesses have gone. These offences were seven or eight years ago and there has been no offending since. He suffers from anxiety and depression and is on suicide watch now."

Sentencing Blount, his honour judge Geraint Walters said: "You had denied all guilt but were convicted by a jury. The pre-sentence report indicates that you deny your guilt, something you are entitled to do. You have a relevant previous conviction in the way of two sexual offences which you were sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in 2018.

You were at that time required to register as a sex offender for 10 years and sign a sexual harm prevention order for a similar period of time. The date span of the offending in 2018 is such that it overlaps the date span of the offending in this particular case. You have shown no remorse in relation to the offending the jury found proved. It has had a significant affect upon the victim."

Blount, 44, of Cwmfelin Boeth, Whitland, was sentenced to five years in prison, and an indefinite restraining order was made preventing him from coming into contact with the victim.

Description

Ex-pub manager Mark Smith has been jailed for eight years after sexually abusing a schoolgirl. The 52-year-old - who used to run The Black Horse, in Chesterton - had always denied seven charges of sexual assault and two charges of assault by penetration.

But he was found guilty of all nine charges by a jury at his trial earlier this month. He was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard that Smith - of Lincoln Road, Cobridge - had grabbed the teenager's breasts and thighs, kissed her, and touched her breasts and bottom. He once exposed himself to his victim and told her he wanted to have sex with her 'whether she wanted it or not' and on another occasion sexually assaulted her at a 'creepy old park and building.

The abuse has had a profound effect on the victim. She said: "I am constantly looking over my shoulder to see where he is. This is not my fault. It is all his.

Darron Whitehead, mitigating, said: "He knows it is to be a custodial sentence measured in years. He knows he will be on the Sex Offenders' Register and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)."

The defendant will be subject to the Sex Offenders' Register and his SHPO indefinitely. He must serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before he is released.

Recorder Anthony Warner told Smith: "You threatened her and told her she would not be believed. Your threats worked as she never told anyone at all about what you were doing."

Description

A paedophile has been jailed after he travelled more than 100 miles to meet an underage girl which turned out to be a police decoy.

Leslie Gearing, 78, went from his home in McKenzie Road, Chatham, to Central Park in Peterborough on February 20 after arranging to meet up with a 13-year-old girl.

He began grooming the “girl” online in December, exchanging messages and sending multiple sexually-explicit images.

He asked all traces be cleared of their conversations and said any photos he received would be put in an encrypted folder on his computer’s hard drive.

He complimented the girl’s appearance but unbeknown to him he was speaking to an undercover police officer. Gearing said she was a “very pretty girl” and he wanted to take naked photos of her and have sex.

He was arrested upon his arrival in Peterborough in a pre-planned operation carried out by members of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT).

A search of the man’s car found child-size underwear, sex toys and camera equipment.

More than 30,000 indecent images of children were discovered on different devices in his home and a further examination found more sexual communications with children and adults, with some attempts to arrange sexual activities with minors.

On Monday (September 18), at Cambridge Crown Court, Gearing was jailed for three years and 11 months.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, three counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and two counts of causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch or look at an image of sexual activity.

He also admitted two counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming.

Gearing was found guilty of a further count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming and this was ordered to lie on file.

DC Cheryl Lee, from the POLIT, said: “Gearing, through his self-serving depravity, was prepared to travel more than 100 miles with no care for the physical and emotional damage he would have caused by engaging in sexual activity with an underage child.

“The items he brought with him show just how much of a risk he poses to children. Thankfully he has been exposed and caught and will be held accountable for his actions.

Description

A man has been jailed after he urinated on a train seat, chucked the seat cushion in a man’s face and sexually assaulted a woman. 

Harry Burgess, 25, was travelling on a train to New Eltham with friends on April 4 when he started acting up. 

At one point in the journey he exposed his genitals in full view of other passengers and urinated on a seat. 

He then threw the cushion at a male passenger, hitting him in the face. 

Then at New Eltham station he sexually assaulted a woman as she boarded the service. 

Detective Constable Matt Smart said "Burgess’ loutish and crude behaviour was humiliating and intimidating for the woman he singled out. 

“He is now serving time behind bars for his pathetic attempts to impress the friends he was travelling with. Sexual assault and violence of any kind is no joke as Burgess can now testify.” 

Burgess, of Brodrick Grove in Greenwich, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and assault by beating at Bromley Magistrates’ Court. 

On Monday (September 18) he was jailed for 24 weeks and handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order. 

He was also ordered to pay a £154 surcharge. 

DC Smart said: “We take all reports of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual behaviour seriously and will support victims throughout our investigations. 

Description

Anthony Maina, 52, of Allen Road, Stoke Newington, was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Thursday, after being found guilty of 17 offences, including seven counts of rape.

The court heard how Maina exploited a position of trust to groom the girl, buying her gifts, clothing, food and mobile phones in a bid to normalise the abuse he was carrying out.

He referred to the victim as “his girl” and his “best friend in the universe”, and would regularly accuse her of having “neglected” him if she did not maintain contact.

Maina would isolate her from all of those around her to knock away at her confidence to prevent her from questioning what he was doing.

He would ask the survivor to come to his property under false pretences, such as to receive a parcel or let some workmen in, and would then abuse her.

When she began to challenge this, he would suggest to her other family members she was being unhelpful, to in effect force her to come to his property.