Latest Offenders

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A paedophiles vast stash of indecent images was discovered when he returned his laptop to a shop in August 2019. Marian Burlan, 58, had a vile child sex abuse image saved as his screensaver, alerting technicians at eFix Computers that there may be other material on the laptop. Another engineer checked the deleted images folder and saw a video of a girl he thought was roughly 10-years-old. Prosecutor Alice Aubrey-Fletcher said Burlans other devices were seized together with notepads that listed websites where indecent images could be found. Police found evidence the images had been accessed since 2008, although the former merchant sailor had only come to the UK from Romania in 2018 in search of better pay. In total, he had around 1,100 images and videos in the very worst category, including one that showed the sezual assault of a child estimated to be three to five years old. There were 46,000 images and videos in category C and 588 in category B. Ms Aubrey-Fletcher said some of the children were in obvious distress. The youngest children in the images were thought to be aged between two and four. A further 33,832 image and video files were found on the devices but not categorised by the specialist officers. Interviewed by the police, Burlan admitted what he had done and said he had looked at sexually-explicit images of adults, children and animals. Sentencing him at Oxford Crown Court on Friday, Judge Maria Lamb said: The author of this pre-sentence report says that the exploitation and abuse of children undertaken to gratify individuals individuals like you - who are often able to detach themselves from ownership of the criminal actions that are directly carried out against those children is a deeply destructive and utterly callous process. I agree wholeheartedly with what the probation officer says about that. In fairness to you, it does appear from what was said to the probation officer during the course of your interview with him that you have a realisation of the gravity of your offending. However, she said she was just persuaded there was a realistic prospect of Burlan being rehabilitated. Judge Lamb sentenced him to 16 months imprisonment suspended for two years with a requirement he complete up to 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days. He must abide by a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and sign on as a sex offender for a decade. The judge ordered he pay 425 in costs. His barrister, Gordana Austin, said her client had spent 25 years in the merchant navy before coming to the UK in 2018. He had worked in various porter roles and odd-jobs. He suffered from a number of health issues. Burlan, of Main Road, Long Hanborough, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession of indecent images of children.

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POLICE have vowed to protect vulnerable people from "sexual exploitation" after a security guard was sentenced for sending sexual images to a "13-year-old girl". Mark Mengham, 60, of Alfred Close in Totton, was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years. A court heard how he had been messaging what he thought was a 13-year-old girl on the mobile app, Badoo. He was later arrested for sending sexual images and asking for naked photos of the girl, which was in fact a decoy profile. He was also ordered to complete 40 rehabilitation sessions, pay a victim surcharge and court costs and register as a sex offender for the offences committed in December 2020 and January 2021. Following the sentencing at Southampton Crown Court on Friday police have vowed to continue their work to protect vulnerable people. Detective Constable Paul Hills said: In a world where people have the ability to exchange messages through a variety of social platforms with people across the country unknown to them, and further afield, with relative ease, it is vitally important that we, as the police, are in a position to investigate if we believe that criminal offences have taken place during these exchanges. We want to continue to protect any vulnerable people, including young children, against possible sexual exploitation and I hope that this conviction shows the lengths that we will go to investigate any such claims. We hope that todays sentencing highlights the dangers that can be lurking on social media when engaging in people you do not know." Mengham was also handed a sexual harm prevention order to last for the next five years. It came after he pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch/look at an image of sexual activity. DC Hills added: "This case serves as a reminder, and to also alert the parents of young children, that the digital world isnt it all it seems. "People may be seemingly acting innocently in exchanging messages initially, but that this can very quickly change, taking a turn to often dark, often sexualised, conversations and messages. We want to encourage any victims of child sexual abuse to come forward and speak to us, no matter when it happened. Hampshire Constabulary take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and will always seek to bring those responsible for committing these offences to justice." Anyone who has been a victim of child sexual abuse is encouraged to contact police on 101.

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A SIXTY-four-year-old Brampton man has been put on the Sex Offender Register after he admitted downloading child abuse images. Police who seized devices owned by Bruce Beveridge discovered that they contained five indecent child images which were classed as Category A, the most serious kind, Carlisles Rickergate court heard. The charge relates to images that included a video which lasted for seven minutes and 31 seconds, the contents of which prosecutor Peter Kelly said should not be aired in court. Beveridge committed the offence over a period of almost six years, the court heard. The charge states that between December 6 of 2014 and March 25 of 2020, the defendant made or downloaded five indecent Category A images of children. Mr Kelly said that the offences came to light after the police visited the defendant at his home on July 9, 2020. Given the nature of the images found on the devices, said Mr Kelly, the defendant should be sentenced by a judge at the crown court. Lauren Heasley, defendant, said Beveridge was a man of previous good character and asked background reports. These will be prepared by the Probation Service. The lawyer accepted that it would be more appropriate to have the case dealt with by the crown court. Magistrates agreed. They told the defendant that he must report to Carlisles Police HQ at Durranhill within three days and provide his personal details, as is required for those people who are on the Sex Offender Register. The defendant will be sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court on July 11. In the meantime, he was granted bail. The length of time his name will be on the Sex Offender Register will be determined by the ultimate length and nature of the sentence he is given.

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Paedophile Keith Hollinshead has been locked up for 10 years after sexually abusing a young boy. The 65-year-old carried out the offences more than three decades ago.

But his seedy offending only came to light when the victim went to Staffordshire Police in 2018 after confiding in his wife. The OAP was convicted of six serious child-sex offences following a trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

The court heard that the abuse lasted for five years.

Read: Dad-of-three hurled fearsome knife on roof in bid to avoid arrest

Sentencing Hollinshead, of Water Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Recorder Anthony Warner said: "What started with stroking his hair, his arms and his legs moved to touching his genitals under his clothing. He described your hand 'like a crab' moving down."

The victim realised the horrors of the offending when later attending sex education lessons at school. It has left him feeling suicidal.

Recorder Warner told Hollinshead: "I cannot say that there's no risk, or future risk, of you committing another serious offence. He said nothing to anyone for many years. He finally spoke to his wife in 2018. The police were called.

"While he was giving his evidence in court the pain he had suffered, and still suffers, was palpable. Even now there's rarely a day when he doesn't think of what you did. He said he felt worthless and it became a downward spiral. He has attempted to end his life.

"It left him feeling dirty making him want to scrub his skin clean. His wife has started to enable him to feel that he should be loved."

Police have welcomed the conviction and sentence.

Detective Constable Diane Sproston said: “I want to pay tribute to the victim and the tremendous courage and bravery he has showed in bringing this case to the courts. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to bring those responsible for these heinous crimes to justice, whilst ensuring the victims are given the support they need.”

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A ROMAN Catholic priest has been jailed for sexual offences against a teenage boy he met in church.

Father Anthony White has been convicted of two counts of indecent assault and one of buggery against the boy.

The offences happened in the early 1990s at an address where White was living in Horsham while he was an assistant priest at St John's Church.

The 64-year-old was sentenced to ten years and six months in prison for the sexual assault.

White, now of Cross-In-Hand, Heathfield, was also given five years for each offence of indecent assault, to run concurrently.

He will serve two thirds of his sentence in prison. 

 Detective Constable Yvonne Daddow said: "White got to know the boy when he and his family attended the church.

“He gradually gained their confidence and the boy started to visit the priest's address in Horsham on the pretext of doing some jobs around the house.

“However on the first occasion White plied the boy with drink and then raped him. On further occasions he also committed sexual assaults on the teenager.

"The victim kept these terrible experience to himself for nearly 30 years and they have had a very serious impact on his mental health and wellbeing all that time.

“Only when watching a TV documentary about unrelated cases of misconduct by priests did he feel able to come forward and disclose what had happened to him.”

He has been supported by specially trained officers and officers have had full co-operation from church authorities throughout the investigation, police said.

“I would like to thank the witnesses for their time in coming forward to support the police in this investigation,” Detective Constable Daddow added.

"We will always investigate such cases and provide support to victims, seeking justice wherever possible no matter how long ago the events are said to have happened."

The prosecution followed an investigation by detectives from the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit after a report was received by police for the first time in 2020. 

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A CHURCH has expressed its great shock after a member of its congregation was sentenced for downloading almost 5,000 child porn pictures.

Andrew Loring, of Hurst Road, Twyford, was spared jail after being convicted of three counts of making indecent images between 2017 and 2019.

The 45-year-old also worked with children having attained a number of leadership roles within the Hurst Scouts group.

Following his sentencing last month, St Marys Twyford released a statement.

A spokesperson said: News of Mr Lorings arrest, and the crimes he has admitted to, has come as a great shock to many in our community. He was a longstanding volunteer and member of the congregation at St Marys Twyford, a regular volunteer at Woodley Park Run, and has held a variety of leadership roles within the Scouts.

Mr Loring was immediately suspended from volunteering at St Marys Twyford on 22 November 2019.

There can be no excuse for his actions and his betrayal of trust. His is not a victimless crime, a fact the judge reminded Mr Loring of during sentencing.

Young and innocent lives are forever damaged by downloading indecent images. Many others are affected, too: the young people who looked up to him left questioning what to believe; staff and leaders left to pick up the pieces; a congregation bewildered by the actions of someone they called a friend.

In the view of the judge, Mr Loring has, since his arrest, demonstrated a willingness to address the root causes of his actions and has a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. We hope that this is indeed the case.

Today, we are shocked, saddened, and experiencing feelings that don't have words for. We offer all of this to God and pray for a world where children are safe from online abuse."

According to a court file, the 45-year-old downloaded:

- 971 Category A images (the most severe)

- 999 Category B images

- 2,623 Category C images

Appearing at Reading Crown Court on May 26, the 45-year-old was handed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months.

The Chronicle contacted Scouts for comment following news of Lorings sentence.

A spokesperson for the organisation confirmed Loring will never be allowed to work with Scouts again.

They said: We are aware of the court proceedings involving Andrew Loring.

The safety of young people in our care is our number one priority. In November 2019 Loring provided us with information that led to him being suspended from the Scouts. He has not volunteered with us since that date.

The statutory agencies have confirmed that there were no Scout victims involved in this case.

Following Lorings admission of guilt we will now take action to permanently exclude him from ever volunteering with Scouting again.

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A rapist who carried out a string of sexual assaults on a young girl has been jailed.

Luke Riley, 36, subjected the girl to more than two years of appalling sexual abuse.

The long list of offences took place in the Mansfield area at a time when the child was still of primary school age.

In total Riley, of Mansfield, had 11 separate child sex charges brought against him but always denied doing anything wrong.

Rileys lies meant that the girl was forced to relive her horrifying ordeal all over again in court as part of a week-long trial in April of this year.

In a victim impact statement read out in Nottingham Crown Court, the girl revealed how Rileys wicked actions had ruined her childhood and had caused her to self-harm in the years that followed.

Following the trial, a jury found Riley guilty of 11 child sex offences, including two counts of rape of a child under the age of 13.

Riley then appeared before Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing today (10 June), where he was jailed for 18 years.

Detective Sergeant James Primrose, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: Riley subjected a vulnerable young girl to more than two years of horrifying sexual abuse, the likes of which nobody should ever have to go through.

Put simply, his actions were completely unforgivable and just pure evil.

At no point has Riley shown any level of remorse or contrition for his horrendous behaviour and actually forced the girl to relive everything that happened to her all over again by lying about what he did in court.

I can only imagine how difficult and upsetting an ordeal this must have been for the victim but I hope that the knowledge that her abuser will now be behind bars for a very long time will serve as some form of comfort for her.

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A MAN from Middlewich who sexually assaulted a disabled woman on a train has been hauled back to court after breaching requirements of the sex offenders register. David Baden Kemp, of Manor Fields, failed to comply with notification requirements which make it necessary for him, by law, to sign the register. The 60-year-old appeared in Crewe Magistrates Court on Tuesday, June 7, to be sentenced for the offence. He was originally jailed for six months on September 7, 2016, after sexually assaulting a disabled woman on a train near Sandbach. The Guardian previously reported how Kemp and his victim boarded the same train at Sandbach Station on June 12, 2015. He then approached the victim in an empty carriage and asked her to move so he could sit next to her. When she refused, he tried to engage her in conversation. Again, she refused. Kemp then dropped to his knees in front of her and began running his hand up her leg. She immediately reported the incident to the train guard, and Kemp was met and arrested by British Transport Police at the next station. As well as the six-month prison sentence for this offence, Kemp was placed on the register for six years - expiring in September 2022. Crewe Magistrates Court has now fined him 120 for failing to sign on. He must also pay 85 in court costs and a 34 victim surcharge. His guilty plea was taken into account.

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A former teaching assistant has been jailed for the sexual assault of a child under 13 Essex Police officers from the child abuse investigation teams (CAIT) arrested 25-year-old Michael Pena-Briggs shortly after an offence was reported to the force in March 2019. Following a complex investigation he was charged in October 2019 with sexual assault of a child under 13. Pena-Briggs, of The Grove in Cambridge, faced his first trial for the offence at Chelmsford Crown Court in May 2021 but was met with a hung jury. The retrial began last month where he was found guilty. It took less than 2 hours for the jury to reach the verdict. At the same court on Monday he was jailed for four years. He will also be on the Sex Offenders Register for life. Investigating officer for the case, Detective Sergeant Stuart Pryke, said: Offences of this kind will always be shocking and disturbing, particularly when that person is in a position of trust. This will undoubtedly be difficult news for the local community but please be assured that our teams and partners have safeguarded and supported all those involved in the investigation. The victim and their family have shown incredible strength and courage throughout this lengthy and complex case. Everything we do and all the hard work is for them, to make sure that they get the justice they deserve." The victims family have said: This has been a long journey but the police and the CPS have been unrelenting in their pursuit of justice. We are especially grateful to DS Pryke of Essex Police for his commitment and dedication, and to CARA, the Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse, for their ongoing support. We hope that by achieving this significant result, other victims and their families will have the confidence to come forward and work with the police so that more offenders can be apprehended and more children protected.

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A SEX offender who distributed indecent images of children from his 900,000 home in Kilmacolm told how he 'fantasises' about young female members of his own family. William Robertson, 66 who was caught with photos of girls aged between four and 15 years revealed his sordid thoughts to another pervert in a flurry of online messages. Robertson also wrote on the Kik messenger app that he was 'into schoolgirls', a hearing at Greenock Sheriff Court was told. Cybercrime police swooped on his plush home as part of an intelligence-led sting operation on May 4 last year. Officers found 66 indecent images of female children on Robertson's laptop computer and iPhone spanning the three most serious categories. During the raid, the 66-year-old said to his wife: "I'm not part of a ring or anything like that." Prosecutor Laura Wilcox told the court how police were acting on information about indecent images 'connected to the accused' being 'uploaded to the internet'. Fiscal depute Miss Wilcox said: "Child exploitation and abuse material was recovered. "All of the images were accessible to the user. "The accused said he fantasizes about young female members of his own family." Robertson pleaded guilty to charges of, on various occasions, taking or permitting to be taken or making and possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children between August 1 2018 and May 3 2021. He also admitted to, on various occasions between February 1 and May 4 last year, distributing or showing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children. Robertson committed the offences at a house on Kilmacolm's West Glen Road and elsewhere. He is currently on bail at a different address. His plea of not guilty to a charge of covertly filming female children entering a school was accepted by prosecutors. Sheriff Linda Smith deferred sentence on Robertson until June 29 for a background report and electronic tagging assessment to be carried out. The sheriff immediately placed him on the Sex Offenders Register, with the length of his inclusion to be determined at his next hearing.

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A man snared by online paedophile hunters posing as 12 and 13 year old girls has been jailed.

Paul White, 55, had been having sexualised communication with what he believed were giris, aged 12 and 13, but in fact were members of a group known as Innocent Voices.

Norwich Crown Court heard White had been communicating with them after setting up fake profiles on social media.

Duncan O'Donnell, prosecuting, said that between October 2021 and March this year White had been engaged in "sexualised chat" with the pair, asking them if they had boyfriends and if their breasts had developed yet.

He requested they send pictures and asked whether they wanted to see him - although never met up with them.

But White was then contacted by an adult decoy who said she was an adult woman who he met with at a pub in Upwell on March 13 this year.

He was then confronted by paedophile hunters who had passed on details to the police.

White had been in possession of an internet-enabled mobile phone which was in breach of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) imposed on him after previously being convicted for sexual offences in 2017.

White, of Dovecote Road, Upwell, near Wisbech appeared at court on Thursday (June 9) to be sentenced after having previously admitted four offences, including two charges of sexual communications with what he believed was a girl under-16.

He also admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order imposed in 2017 by attempting to communicate with under-16s and possessing a mobile phone without informing police.

Jailing him for 40 months Judge Katharine Moore said the spell of offending was "deeply concerning".

Judge Moore said White was a "dangerous offender" who was assessed as being a "high risk of causing serious sexual harm" to children.

Andrew Oliver, mitigating, said White, who deserved credit for plea, lost his father, who he described as his best friend, about 12 months ago which hit him "very hard".

He said that White needed help to "rewire his brain".

White was ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for 10 years while the case was adjourned until July 7 when a new sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) will be made.

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Stephen Jones, of Sunderland, was subject to restrictions after he was caught by paedophile hunters, including being banned from deleting internet devices A sex offender has been jailed for deleting the history on his phone. Stephen Jones was given a chance to stay out of prison in 2020 when he was caught by paedophile hunters attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming. As part of his sentence for that offence he got a sexual harm prevention order and one of the terms of it was a ban on deleting his internet history. On May 11 this year, police went to his home to check up on him and asked to examine his devices. The 55-year-old, of Gladstone Street, Sunderland, handed over a phone, saying they would not find anything on it. When told there should be something on it, as he was banned from erasing it, he said: "You won't find anything, I wiped it. I like to wipe my phone." He was arrested and replied "S*** I'm going to prison." As well as the conviction from 2020, he was also in court in September last year of failing to comply with his sex offender notification requirements after failing to notify a change of address. And in November he was convicted of a similar breach. For the latest offence, he pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order and was jailed for 18 months. Judge Christopher Prince, at Newcastle Crown Court, told him: "You have got a concerning record in recent times. You are a high risk of sexual offences against children."

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Sick predator Robert Moors, 36, attempted to groom girls as young as eight using social media video app TikTok before moving the conversation to Whatsapp where he asked one about her underwear A creepy predator has been thrown in jail for four years after it emerged he was grooming girls as young as eight via social media app TikTok. Robert Moors, 36, used the China-owned video app to ask one of his two of his victims what underwear she as wearing. The 12-year-old admitted that they were Frozen-themed, and the sick man then asked her to perform sexual acts, Oxford Crown Court heard. And he even dared the girl to tell her brother to expose his genitals for five seconds. Things took an even more sinister turn when the man, who went under the name Goldeneye0073, moved the conversation to WhatsApp. A second victim, who was ten when she was contacted on TikTok by Moors, was asked what she was wearing. He suggested she remove her underwear. The vile messages were discovered when the second girl approached her father 'shaking and crying' and showed him the social media conversation. Moors was arrested two days later, on December 21 last year, and his mobile phone was seized. When it was searched by police experts, the phone was found to contain 95 child sex abuse videos in the worst category, which includes depictions of child rape. There were 75 videos in category B and 65 in category C. The children in the videos were aged between six and 11. He was interviewed twice and answered no comment to all questions asked. Jailing him for four years, Judge Michael Gledhill QC said: "You opened TikTok, you browsed through the material that was openly on view and you selected two girls who happened to be eight and 10-years-old. "You spoke to them directly and you asked them to do sexual things, albeit not the most serious sexual things but we are talking about girls under 10. "Why were you doing it? For your own sexual gratification. Gareth James, mitigating, described the case as a troubling one and acknowledged the custody threshold had been passed. His client had no previous convictions and entered his guilty pleas at the first opportunity. Moors pleaded guilty to inciting a girl under-13 to engage in sexual activity and possession of indecent images of children. He will be on the sex offender register for life and was made subject to a seven-year sexual harm prevention order designed to limit his unfettered access to children and the internet.

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A Leeds man has been jailed for two years after he was caught grooming what he thought to be a 13-year-old girl - which was actually a decoy set up by Predator Exposure. Predator Exposure seeks to expose sex offenders who target children online. Group members set up 'decoy' social media profiles pretending to be of a child and then engage in online conversations. Bilal Ahmed, 25, contacted an account set up by a member of the group in March 2020, prosecutor Bashir Ahmed told Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday (June 7). "One of their group uploaded a profile of a child named Melanie aged 13 years", the prosecutor said. "The defendant contacted Melanie through her Facebook account on March 22. "There were a series of conversations. "Ultimately the defendant blocked Melanie because he wasn't getting answers." The chat that did take place was "sexually explicit on occasions", the prosecutor said. He added: "The defendant displayed grooming type behaviour wanting to meet Melanie. "He said: 'Would you let me hold your neck and kiss your lips slowly." Police officers seized Ahmed's mobile phone and the chat was uncovered. He was arrested in February 2021 and answered no comment to questions, before being released under investigation. In December 2021, Ahmed was also arrested after turning up at the place of work of a woman who he had previously been warned about harassing. On December 21, he turned up at her place of work. At the end of her shift, wary Ahmed was "lurking", the woman asked a colleague to accompany her to leave the building, Leeds Crown Court was told. Ahmed "wanted to speak" to the woman and "would not take no for an answer". The victim was worried for her safety as Ahmed attempted to grab her handbag, the court heard. CCTV footage showed Ahmed pushing the woman and punching the man, the court was told. This caused an injury to the male victim's face. Ahmed refused to leave the area until police arrived. Ahmed, of Norwood Terrace, Leeds, pleaded guilty to one count of affray, one count of attempting to communicate sexually with a child and offences of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. In mitigation, Khadim Al Hassan said Ahmed had long standing psychological issues and was bullied at school. He began to use cannabis and alcohol from the age of 11 or 12, the court was told. Ahmed has depression and anxiety and his "head was all over the place", the court heard. "This was a very difficult time for him", Mr Al Hassan said. "Custody has been very difficult for him. "He is somebody the probation service could help. "He has shown genuine remorse." Sentencing Ahmed, Judge Tom Bayliss QC told Ahmed he was "grooming" who he thought to be the girl. "The aim on your part was to meet her, but you were caught", the Judge continued. "There was a degree of planning on your part, grooming behaviour for some time. "There has to be an immediate custodial sentence." Ahmed was jailed for two years. He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for a period of 10 years and must sign a sex offender notification for 10 years. Ahmed was also given a restraining order against the female victim of the affray.

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A MAN has been jailed for raping a woman. Police said Isaac Amponsah was found unanimously guilty by a jury of oral rape at a property in Worthing in November 2018. At Hove Crown Court, the 41-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison and handed a restraining order preventing him from any future contact with the victim. Amponsah, of Strand Parade, Goring, will also be placed on the sex offenders register for life. Investigating Officer Amber Evans said: I hope the outcome of this case will provide reassurance to the public that reports of sexual offences are investigated diligently and tirelessly. I also hope it will give other victims of sexual offences the confidence to make a report to the police. The victim in this case has shown incredible bravery, not only in reporting this matter but in supporting the investigation and prosecution over an extended period of time. She gave evidence in court and should be proud of the key part she played in bringing Amponsah to justice. Hopefully the conviction and sentence will offer some level of comfort to the victim and will prevent Amponsah from committing any such crime in the future. Importantly, once he is released from prison, he will remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely, affording long-term protection to other women.