Latest Offenders

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School IT teacher, 40, is jailed for six years after he hacked into his pupils' mobile phones to steal naked selfies from teenage girls and store them on his computer

A school IT teacher was jailed for six years today after hacking his pupils' phones to steal naked selfies of teenage girls and storing them on his computer.

High school technology expert Richard Edmunds, 40, told pupils he could fix their broken devices but took their private nude picture when he took their phones home.

Edmunds targeted a string of girls while working at a high school in Cardiff to gain iCloud passwords to download more than 1,700 images onto his home computer.

A court heard he also groomed school girls telling them they could make money by sending him naked selfies that would be published on modelling websites.

He was arrested after one former pupil made an anonymous call to Childline and officers searched his home.

Prosecutor John Ryan said: 'He would assist them with technology problems with computers or mobile phones. He would take them home, download their devices searching for indecent images of these girls and storing them on his computer.

'Others were incited to send pictures of themselves to him and indecent images were later found.'

Mr Ryan said Edmunds repeatedly asked one sixth form student to send him naked pictures that they could sell online.

Newport Crown Court heard Edmunds would continue to ask the girl for pictures even when he knew she was suffering from depression and feeling suicidal.

Mr Ryan said: 'He made out that she owed him something for the emotional support he had given her and he persisted to ask for images saying he needed photos of her to get money.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55187406.amp

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A man who had more than 64,000 indecent images of children on his computer admitted his guilt as soon as police entered his Bournemouth home.

The haul of still and moving images David Ballam possessed included scores of the most serious type.

Some of the content involved children no older than 10 years of age.

Officers had been contacted about suspicious online search activity relating to child sex abuse from the IP address associated with his home address.

Following an investigation, police visited the 52-year-olds address in Belle Vue Road, where he lives with his elderly father, in December last year.

Prosecutor James Nash told Bournemouth Crown Court: Police officers went to his home address. Mr Ballams father let them in.

He (the defendant) presented his hands.

"He said: I am guilty. I have been looking at pictures. They are there. They are very young. I have been looking for the last couple of months.

Police seized his computer and found a total of 64,116 still and moving images, with 178 Category A (the most serious), 122 Category B and 63,816 Category C.

At the hearing on December 4, Mr Nash confirmed Ballam had not been involved in the creation of the images but sought them out online and downloaded them over a year-long period, with evidence of systematic storage on the computer.

Mitigating, Tom Evans said the defendant, who had no previous convictions, was remorseful and aware of the contribution his offending had on child sex abuse crimes.

Mr Evans added that Ballam, who is the full time carer for his father, was an extremely isolated individual who suffered from mental health issues for some years.

In sentencing the defendant, who admitted three counts of making indecent images of children at an earlier hearing, Recorder Alexia Power said his mental health had contributed to the offending.

She said a large number of children were seen in the images and only a custodial sentence could be justified although suspended the sentence, noting there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Ballam was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay 200 costs and a 140 surcharge.

He was issued with a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years, required to follow an eight-week overnight curfew and told to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

DI Neil Third, of Dorset Polices paedophile online investigation team, said: The possessing and sharing of indecent images online fuels the demand for their production, which results in truly awful acts of sexual abuse being carried out against children that have a devastating and lifelong impact on the young victims.

We are determined to identify those responsible for these offences and bring them before the courts. We work with a range of other agencies to gather information and intelligence and will act on this to ensure offenders face justice and victims are safeguarded.

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Millan Rajasooriar was busted by police who were behind the operation

A man who travelled to meet a 13-year-old girl to attempt sexual offences was arrested when he instead was collared by specialist officers.

Millan Rajasooriar, 34, of Hampton Road, Worcester Park, London pleaded guilty at Guildford Crown Court on October 26 to one count of attempting sexual communication with a child and one count of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.

Rajasooriar was sentenced today (Friday) to 30 months in prison for attempting to commit child sex offences following an investigation by the South East Regional Crime Unit (SEROCU).

On October 28, 2019, Rajasooriar had travelled to Ashtead Train Station, Surrey where he expected to meet a 13-year-old child to commit sexual offences - but was instead met by officers from SEROCU and arrested.

This arrest followed a proactive, intelligence-led investigation relating to sexual offences with a child during October 2019.

A series of messages, which were of a sexual nature, were sent by Rajasooriar on WhatsApp, to whom he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

He used the messages to arrange the meeting with the child, but in this case, there was never a real-life victim and no children were in any danger.

After his arrest, Rajasooriars phone was examined and was found to contain an indecent image of a child.

He was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely and a further sexual harm prevention order to run in line with his registration period.

Detective Inspector Phil Attwood of SEROCU, said: Rajasooriar thought he would be meeting a child who was only 13-years-old to engage in sex with him, but was arrested and pleaded guilty to overwhelming evidence against him.

Rajasooriar now faces a prison term and when he is released his name will go on the Sex Offenders Register and he will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.

This was a successful pro-active operation led by South East Regional Crime Unit officers and forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation from those who seek to do them harm.

If anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, I would urge you to report it to your local police force via 101. We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred.

"Victims can talk in confidence to experienced Investigators and we can also help them get access to a range of other support services.

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The cannibal killer who raped and murdered paedophile Richard Huckle committed his first sex offence in Northern Ireland aged just 12.

Paul Fitzgerald laughed in court as he was sentenced to 34 years for the brutal murder of his fellow inmate in Full Sutton Prison last year.

He’d strangled Huckle with an electrical cable and raped him with a kitchen implement before stabbing him repeatedly with a makeshift knife during the assault last October.

In the frenzied attack, which went on for 80 minutes, Huckle was also stabbed in the neck and had a pen pushed up his nose into his brain.

The 30-year-old murderer told prison guards he’d planned to cook and eat parts of his victim, and then subject other inmates to the same fate, but he was having ‘too much fun’ with Huckle.

Fitzgerald said it was a form of ‘poetic justice’ because his 33-year-old victim was one of the most notorious paedophiles in the UK. Hiding behind his cover as a Christian teacher and a freelance photographer, he had abused 191 children and was serving 22 life sentences.

Targeted

But the pair has some sick traits in common – they had both started offending at an early age, targeted very young children and kept journals of their depraved behaviour. The Northern Ireland man has boasted in one diary entry, ‘I’m a paedophile and I’m the best.’

In court this week Fitzgerald was branded a psychopath by the presiding judge.

He committed his first offence at the age of 12 when his sexually assaulted a four-year-old child in 2004.

He was convicted of the offence at the age of 13 and received threats from loyalist paramilitaries.

Social Services moved him to Wales and gave him his current identity, but he offended again just two years later when he attacked a frail pensioner in 2006.

Following that attack he was sent to a hostel in West Yorkshire where he was the only inmate, and under constant supervision by two staff members.

When he was left alone for seconds in the hostel’s kitchen he absconded and tried to attack a dog walker, holding a fork to her throat and threatening to stab her if she screamed.

The terrified woman was able to fight him off and when Fitzgerald was picked up by police he was carrying the fork and a jar of Vaseline.

A search of his room uncovered his journals which he had written in code but the key to the code was in the same room and police were able to decipher his sordid fantasies.

He’d written about his desire to anally rape women and his paedophilia urges. Fitzgerald also declared, ‘I love raping women’ and vowed he would never stop reoffending.

Assault

In 2009 he was convicted of offences including assault and assault with the intent to commit rape and sentenced to almost four years, with the recommendation that he should be jailed indefinitely until he was no longer a danger.

Huckle, from Ashford in Kent, was jailed in 2016 for a litany of offences against children so long it took almost an hour to read them out in court.

He’d written a guide for paedophiles on how to prey on poor children because he claimed no one cared about them. He’d boasted about abusing a three-year-old girl ‘as loyal to me as my dog and no one seemed to care’.

All of his offences took place in Malaysia although he had travelled extensively around south-east Asia. He shared vile images with fellow paedophiles, awarding himself points for each child he abused, but much of the encrypted material he created was never decoded by police.

The pair met in the prison’s Delta wing where sex offenders and inmates who struggled with life on the inside were housed.

On October 13 last year Fitzgerald went into Huckle’s cell with the intention of murdering and eating him.

Harming

At his recent trial in Hull Crown Court the Northern Ireland man said he had been planning the murder for a week. He admitted to having ‘intrusive’ thoughts about harming other prisoners but had decided that Huckle would be his first victim.

Giving evidence, Fitzgerald said he’d raped his victim with the four-inch kitchen implement because he “wanted him to know what it felt like”.

He abandoned his plans to kill anyone else because he was “having too much fun” with Huckle.

After the killing, when prison staff said he appeared emotionless, a search uncovered another two makeshift knives in his cell.

At the trial two psychiatrists testified that Fitzgerald had lived with a conduct disorder from an early age, gender personality dysphoria and a personality disorder.

Sentencing the killer, the Honourable Mr Justice Lavender told him by video link last week: “You are a psychopath and derive pleasure from imagining torturing, raping, killing and even eating others.

“You went into his cell equipped and intended to rape and kill Mr Huckle and if possible, cook and eat parts of him.

‘As you said yourself, you committed murder in cold blood,” said the judge.

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A FIREMAN had sex with an underage girl in a fire engine and groomed her with booze and day trips out.

Disgraced dad of two James Clark promised the 15-year-old he would leave his wife for her.

Controlling Clark, 41, told the teen that she was forbidden to have a boyfriend of her own age.

He abused the girl over a period of years at home and work, a court heard.

The traumatised victim, now 21, eventually alerted police when she was 18, after contacting Childline.

Clark, of Crowthorne, Berks, was found to have pics on his phone of him having sex with her.

The paedophile admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child.

At Reading Crown Court, judge Edward Burgess said it was sustained abuse to someone who was vulnerable.

He jailed Clark for six years and eight months.

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An utterly depraved predator who installed a secret bathroom camera to spy on young girls in Shetland has been jailed for almost three years.

John Rankins voyeurism went undiscovered for close to a decade until he was caught with thousands of indecent images of children during a police raid last year.

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A MAN from Andover has pleaded guilty to sexually grooming an underage girl, which was actually a decoy.

Alan Smith, of Collingwood Walk, admitted attempting to meet with a child with the intention of sexual activity.

The offence took place between July 3 and September 8, last year, but according to court records Smith was talking to a decoy.

He appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Friday November 13.

The 40-year-old will be sentenced at the same court on December 18.

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A man who raped an 11-year-old girl on Portland has today been jailed for seven years.

James Connell Loveman, 23, was sentenced today at Bournemouth Crown Court.

He attacked the girl in the Old Windmill near Easton on a night in August last year.

Loveman, of Portland, was convicted of charges of rape and assault by penetration today following a trial in September.

He had previously admitted an offence of sexual assault of a female aged under 13.

The victim, who was 11 at the time of the incident, was with her 14-year-old friend and they had spent the evening walking around Portland.

At around 1.30am on Saturday 31 August they were in the area of Easton Square when they met a man who was sitting on a bicycle.

They walked with him to an old windmill to the south of Park Road, where they chatted for a time before the victims friend went outside. Once he was alone with the victim, Loveman sexually assaulted her and then raped her before riding off on his bike in the direction of Weston.

Following an investigation led by detectives from the Forces Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), Lovemans DNA was found to be a match of a profile obtained from the victims clothing and he was arrested on Saturday 7 September 2019.

The victim said that the incident had terrified her and she came forward because she did not want Loveman to do the same thing to someone else and that she would not wish what happened to her on anybody.

She added that she had been hurt by comments made, including online, which implied that she or her family were in some way at fault for what happened or that she had lied.

Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour, of MCIT, said: This was a horrific sexual attack of a young victim and I would like to praise the girl involved for the courage she displayed in coming forward and supporting the investigation and trial process.

I want to thank her and all those involved in the investigation for their assistance in helping to bring James Loveman to justice for his horrific crimes.

I hope this case demonstrates that we will support victims who report sexual offences and do all we can to identify the culprits and hold them accountable for their actions.

Julia Woodward, CPS Wessex Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Senior Crown Prosecutor said: The victim in this case was incredibly brave throughout the investigation and prosecution. She was courageous in contacting the police immediately to report what had happened to her, which meant that Loveman could be identified and arrested quickly.

CPS Wessex worked closely with Dorset Polices Major Crime Investigation Team, using forensic evidence to help secure a guilty verdict.

We hope that todays sentence has delivered justice and provides some comfort to the victim."

If you have been the victim of a rape or sexual assault and want to report it directly to police, contact Dorset Police via 101 and ask to speak to a specially trained officer. In an emergency always dial 999.

Not everyone will want to report a matter directly to police. The Shores is the sexual assault referral centre for Dorset and its expert staff are independent of the police.

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A teenager was the subject of a paedophile hunter sting after sending photos of his genitals to a decoy he believed to be a 12-year-old girl.

Cameron Davidson, now 20, was also found in possession of indecent images of children after being arrested on August 21 last year in Barry .

Members of Alpha Predator Hunters created a profile for a 12-year-old girl, with a photo of a woman manipulated to look like a child with a Snapchat filter, on dating app Badoo.

When Davidson messaged the profile the decoy replied: "How old are you? I'm 12 and shouldn't be on here." He replied saying he was 19 years old.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard the conversation between the defendant and the decoy moved to WhatsApp and Davidson began sending sexually explicit messages in which he asked the 12-year-old to engage in sexual activity.

During the conversations Davidson sent pictures of his penis on two occasions and asked the decoy to send a picture of her breasts.

An arrangement was made between the two to meet at Barry railway station on August 21 but when the day came the defendant cancelled saying he was too busy at work.

Having sent a picture of himself in his work uniform the decoy was able to track down the address of his place of work in Barry and members of the paedophile hunter group travelled there to confront him and saw him walking along the street.

Prosecutor Clare Wilks said Davidson was approached by two men who asked him his name and if he had arranged to meet a 12-year-old. He said he had but claimed he thought the girl was 18. He was detained until the police arrived and arrested.

A black Samsung mobile phone was seized and was discovered to contain two category A indecent images, four category B images, and seven category C images as well as nine extreme pornographic images.

In interview Davidson accepted the decoy had told him she was 12 years old but claimed he thought she was "messing around". He also claimed to have a "high sex drive", which he requested treatment for, but denied have a sexual interest in children.

The defendant, of Ship Alley, Farnborough, Hampshire, later pleaded guilty to attempting to communicate with a child, attempting to engage a child in sexual activity, and possession of indecent and extreme images.

Defence barrister Ruth Smith said her client was a young man who "needed help" and would benefit from intervention from the probation service.

Sentencing, Recorder Greg Bull QC said: "Sexual offences are always serious and the offences you have committed are likely to have a heavy impact on your life.

"Having sexual contact with a child is something that the courts abhor, as does society."

Davidson was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment suspended for two years and was ordered to carry out a 55-day rehabilitation activity requirement and do 200 hours unpaid work.

He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

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A high-risk sex offender who uploaded explicit footage to a social media site has been jailed for five years.

Gavin Cooper, 38, repeatedly raped a sleeping woman at a house in Dundee before going on to commit sex crimes against two other women.

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A man has been jailed for non-recent child sex offences.

Edgar Collins, 80 from St Andrews Close in Shifnal, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment after a jury found him guilty of sexual assault, indecency with a child and indecent assault.

He was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday 23 November.

It follows an investigation by Telford CID.

Detective Constable Richard Cowley, said: “I would like to thank the victims and their families in this case for their courage, bravery and vigour during our investigation. I hope that other victims of sexual offences will take strength and encouragement from this verdict and come forward and report any offences to us, regardless of when they took place.”

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A man calling himself Jesus who broke into a womans home to try to rape her has been jailed for nine years.

George Wallace, 26, had been drinking heavily when he climbed into the 58-year-old grandmothers home as she slept.

He dragged the victim from her bed, but fled when the womans daughter came to investigate the commotion.

Police found a trail of muddy footprints left behind by Wallace, his fingerprints on the bathroom window, and his DNA on a vodka bottle at the scene.

At Woolwich crown court on Monday, Wallace was found guilty by a jury of carrying out the attack and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Prosecutor Amanda Hamilton told the court the attack happened just before 7am on November 10 last year, as the woman slept following a late-night in with her family.

She was suddenly awoken by someone flinging the bedroom door open," she said.

She saw the outline of a man, didnt recognise him, and started to scream, or at least she tried to start to scream.

Ms Hamilton said the womans attempts to call for help were stifled by medical equipment she wore at night, but she managed to push the man as he advanced on her.

Wallace then grabbed her wrists as he told her: My name is Jesus, I have come to f*** you.

He pulled her off the bed," said Ms Hamilton. She continued to scream and kick out at him she wasnt going to let him remove her clothing.

Wallace had pulled down his own trousers when the victims daughter came into the room.

Forensic tests pinned him to the scene, while the victim picked him out of an identity parade.

The fingerprint and DNA evidence in this investigation was vital in identifying Wallace," said Detective Constable Paul Harakis, from the Mets South Area Safeguarding team.

The victim has shown tremendous courage in giving evidence. This case shows how working across the organisation with teams such as forensic specialists, helps to secure a conviction.

Wallace had been caught on camera buying a bottle of vodka from a nearby petrol station prior to the attack, but insisted he was not the man responsible.

He told detectives he had been out at a club with his brother and was on his way to his girlfriends home when he came across a man asking for help.

Wallace claimed he had helped another man to climb through a bathroom window, believing he had been locked out of his own home.

Wallace, of Orpington, denied but was convicted of attempted rape and trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Recorder Joel Bennathan QC sentenced him to nine years in prison with an extra five years on licence once released. Wallace must serve at least two thirds of the prison sentence, and will be a registered sex offender for life.

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The 68-year-old from Pendarves Street in Tuckingmill, Camborne, was sentenced to nine years in prison at Truro Crown Court on Friday, November 6.

It was after he was guilty of multiple counts of indecent assault and gross indecency with a child, in a number of historic offences.

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A former soldier who was part of the Queen's guard at Balmoral Castle has been jailed for nine years for sexual abuse against children.

John Paul Hoy repeatedly molested and raped two girls and indecently assaulted a third victim in his home in Edinburgh between 1986 and 1996.

Judge Lady Scott said the 46-year-old had "dominated and terrified" his victims.

Jailing him at High Court in Edinburgh, she said Hoy had blighted their lives.

Lady Scott said: "These offences constitute a very serious and persistent course of sexual abuse of children."

"You blighted their lives and caused significant and obvious damage, especially to the second victim who spoke of her childhood being taken from her."

"The damage to her was all too evident in her evidence, as indeed was her bravery."

The judge told Hoy, who was assessed as posing a high risk of sexual harm: "The scale of the abuse to the first and second victims is extraordinarily serious."

Lady Scott said that in sentencing Hoy she took into account he was also a child when a large part of the offending occurred.

She also noted that Hoy had lengthy Army service which had left him struggling with the effects of post traumatic stress disorder.

'Pomp and circumstance'

Hoy was 12 when he began committing sex crimes in 1986 against a nine-year-old girl with the abuse escalating into repeated rapes.

His second victim was aged seven when he began preying on her in 1988 and she too became the target for repeated rapes.

A third girl was indecently assaulted by him at a house in Edinburgh on two occasions when she was aged between nine and 13.

Hoy had denied the 11 charges of rape, indecent conduct and indecent assault. He was found guilty following a trial.

He was acquitted of a further rape charge against a girl aged 14 or 15 allegedly committed at another address in Edinburgh between 2004 and 2006.

At his trial he lodged a special defence of alibi which stated that for two periods in 2004 he was stationed with the Army in Aberdeenshire at Balmoral, the Queen's residence in Scotland.

He told the court: "We were part of the Queen's royal guard at Balmoral so it was pomp and circumstance, but also with guard duties."

His first victim told jurors at his trial that she was subjected to repeated abuse. She said: "I was a little girl. I was scared. I was living in terror some days."

His second victim told the court: "I didn't have a childhood. My childhood was taken away from."

'Abhorrent' crimes

Defence counsel Iain McSporran QC said Hoy continued to maintain his complete denial of guilt.

Hoy was placed on the sex offender's register indefinitely.

The children's charity, NSPCC Scotland, said Hoy subjected young girls to "terrifying ordeals", and the crimes he committed against them was "abhorrent".

A spokesman said: "They have shown immense bravery in speaking out.

"Cases such as these show that people who experience sexual abuse will be listened to and justice can be achieved. It is so important that these girls receive the support they need to recover."

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A PEADOPHILE was caught with images of young children as young as two being tied up and abused.

Andrew Burtt claimed he was not sexually aroused by children, a court heard.

The 51-year-old had a stash of 4,778 images involving children between the two and seven-years-old being abused.

Prosecution barrister, Lucie Taylor, said how Burtt sent images and forwarded them on to other users via a social media app called Kik.

However, police eventually arrested the master mariner at a property in Fern Road, Hythe on September 10, 2018.

They searched the address and seized his electronic devices including a Samsung phone and memory card he had been using to store the photos and films.

Miss Taylor told how in a police interview on January 24 this year Burtt accepted responsibility for downloading the images.

However, he said he was not sexually aroused by children.

Furthermore, he could not offer any excuses for his behaviour.

With no criminal record, Burtt of Marram Close, Lymington appeared before Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

He had previously pleaded guilty to the offences which took place between January 2011and September 2018.

Defending, Chris Gaiger argued his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had made admissions in a police interview.

Mr Gaiger said, Burtt will be dismissed from his position as master mariner operating ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth.

Despite his “addiction”, he has a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, Mr Gaiger added.

Judge Gary Burrell QC said: “How on earth you ended up in this situation I do not understand and I think a lot of people have failed to understand it as well.

He slammed his offences as abhorrent and perverted.

"It looks like your life is ruined all because you wanted gratification", Judge Burrell added.

During sentencing he said how Burtt had taken steps to address his problem and that there was a prospect of rehabilitation.

He have him a 30 month community order.

Burtt must register as a sex offender and complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

He must also pay £450 in costs.