Latest Offenders

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Both men were found guilty by a jury of two counts each of raping the 13-year-old

A pair of depraved paedophiles have been found guilty of raping a boy aged 13.

Sick duo John Cox and Jamie Cross twice raped the teenager in 2005 before being arrested years later.

The victim went through years of torment and eventually found evidence to convict the pair, one of whom admitted to the sexual activity in a Facebook message, LeicestershireLive reports .

Both men were found guilty by a jury of two counts each of raping the 13-year-old.

In a personal impact statement, the victim admitted: "I felt angry at what they'd done to me and my body."

He described the abuse as affecting his education and sending him off the rails for several years, and said he suffered recurring nightmares with the defendants' "faces coming out of the walls and shouting at me."

When messaging them on Facebook, years later, he said he felt "fear and disgust."

Although both defendants denied the rapes, Cross had referred to sexual activity having taken place when the victim later engaged him in text conversations - which was evidence used in court.

Sentencing the pair to substantial terms in jail, Judge Robert Brown said: "You were both in your mid-20's at the time and the complainant was 13.

"The circumstances in which you abused him were a gross breach of trust by you."

Judge Brown told Cox, 38, and Cross, 37, both of Simons Close, Wigston Harcourt, near Leicester: "You took advantage of him and you raped him twice."

Cox raped the boy during two incidents - including when Cross also took turns and twice raped the victim.

Judge Brown said: "I can't and don't attempt to begin to describe the pain and suffering he's gone through ... the pain is real, it's lasting and will never leave him."

The judge said the victim was accused of lying during the trial and added: "For him it was like going through it all again.

"You're both still in denial and still maintain you didn't abuse him.

"The jury by their verdicts have found you guilty - and guilty you are in the way described.

"It was a clear abuse of trust, you planned these encounters and took advantage of this young boy."

The court heard both defendants had previous convictions relating to child pornography and were given suspended sentences in 2017.

Judge Brown told the defendants: "There's no remorse, there's no previous good character, there's no mitigation apart from what I've already referred to in your character references."

He said both defendants would receive "sex offenders' treatment" whilst in custody.

During the trial, Richard Thatcher, prosecuting, said the boy had got to know them when they were running a first aid service, providing medical care at public events.

Mr Thatcher said that when the victim became an adult: "He entrapped Cross in a conversation on Facebook.

"He wanted to get them to admit what they'd done."

Giving evidence in the trial caused the victim's fear and pain to resurface that he described afterwards "felt like a tornado."

The complainant said the court process had proved successful and added: "I hope if anything similar happened to anyone else, I suggest they come forward."

James Varley, mitigating for Cross said: "For the most part he's lived a hard working and respectable life."

He said: "It was one incident.

"There was a break and then a resumption; not an ongoing course of conduct as the two offences were within the same episode."

He said the offences happened 14 years ago and added: "He knows he's going to spend a period of time in custody.

Paul Fleming, for Cox, said that references spoke well of the defendant regarding many positive aspects of his life.

He added: "The references speak of how he has been well regarded by others who know him."

Cox and Cross were each jailed for 12 years.

They were placed on life-time sexual harm prevention orders and will have to record all future addresses on the police sexual offenders' register.

Both were "automatically barred" from ever working with children, the judge said.

The defendants were also on trial accused of less serious sexual assaults upon the same victim, during the same period, but both Cox and Cross were acquitted by the jury on those counts.

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Crimes include the rape of a teenage girl

A Staffordshire driving instructor has been convicted for raping a child and "abusing his position to sexually assault female pupils".

Martyn James Rees, 37 has today, Friday, March 22, been convicted at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

He was found guilty of numerous sexual offences, including rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child, sexual assault, two counts of attempted sexual assault, six counts of making indecent photographs of a child and possession of an extreme pornographic image.

Rees pleaded guilty to assault by penetration, two counts of sexual assault, four counts of making indecent photographs of a child and two counts of cannabis possession at an earlier hearing.

His eight victims were aged between 14 and 25 at the time of the offences, which took place between 2015 and 2018.

Rees, of West Avenue in Stoke, was arrested on Friday, March 8, following reports that a 14-year-old had been raped.

An examination of his mobile phone found indecent images of children and led to the identification of further victims, leading to him being rearrested.

He has not been able to operate as a driving instructor since March 2018.

Speaking about the case, Detective Inspector Simon Caton from Staffordshire Police's Child Protection and Exploitation Team said: "Rees has spent years abusing his position as a trusted driving instructor to commit sexual offences against his pupils.

"He also sexually assaulted a vulnerable 14-year-old girl, following a chance encounter with her.

"I would urge anyone who has been a victim of such crimes to come forward and report this to us, we will listen and you and your families will be supported by specially-trained detectives and social workers.

"If you are or have been a victim or you are worried about something, and you don't feel ready to talk to the police, please speak to someone you trust."

Rees has been remanded and will be sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court at a later date, which is yet to be decided.

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AN ABINGDON man has been given a five year jail sentence for a string of child sexual offences.

Linus Rickett, 20, of the Holt, pleaded guilty to the counts - involving boys between nine and 13 - and was sentenced yesterday at Oxford Crown Court.

He was also given a further three years on extended licence after admitting to 13 counts involving 10 boys.

Police say he was a 'prolific offender' who pretended to be a young girl and filmed boys using urinals.

Seven counts involved inciting boys under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted to three counts of voyeurism and three counts of making indecent images of a child (one in categories A, B and C respectively).

Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Ali Driver, of Force CID based at Abingdon police station, said: “Rickett is clearly a prolific offender, targeting young boys to abuse for his own sexual gratification.

“Rickett committed these crimes by pretending he was a young girl of a similar age to the victims online and by filming boys using urinals.

“Crimes of this nature will not be tolerated in the Thames Valley and we ask that anyone who believes they could be a victim of this type of crime or knows a child that could be affected to get in touch.

“Cases of this nature will always be thoroughly investigated to ensure every effort is made to take them through the criminal justice system.”

Rickett will also be placed on the sex offender register for life and will be issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The offences took place between February 2017 and October 2018.

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A MAN arrested in an anti-paedophile police sting at a York supermarket has been jailed for three years.

Christopher George Walton, 33, was sitting in a Berlingo van whose rear seats had been removed and had “a large supply of condoms” and other items that could be used in sexual activities, said Paul Newcombe, prosecuting.

He was waiting to meet a schoolboy nearly 13-year-old called “Noah” whom he had told via social media he would meet him at a Lidl supermarket car park, take for a drive and “see what happens”.

But in reality “Noah” didn’t exist. His profile on Grindr social media had been created as part of a police operation and 15 minutes before he was due to arrive at 4pm on January 14, police pounced.

“The defendant was shaking as he was arrested and said “I knew it”,” said Mr Newcombe.

Walton, of Ingleborough Avenue, Tang Hall, pleaded guilty to two offences of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity and one of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming.

He was jailed for three years, put on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order curbing his contact with boys under 16 and use of the internet and electronic devices.

Mr Newcombe said “Noah” had told Walton at the start of their exchanges in early January he was “nearly 13” and that he was at school. Walton had been the first to turn their exchanges to sexual content, and had asked him more than once to send him a sexual picture of himself. “Noah” had not done so.

For Walton, Keith Allen said as part of their Grindr exchanges, the 33-year-old had told “Noah” he was too “skint” to buy him a McDonalds and they wouldn’t be able to drive far because he didn’t have much fuel.

On two occasions, he had also not contacted “Noah” for days at a time and “Noah” had resumed the contact

At the time of the offences, Walton had been suffering from depression, but not on medication.

As soon as he had been released following his arrest, he had gone to his GP and got anti-depressants.

Mr Allen said police must have submitted a profile with a false date of birth because Grindr was restricted to adults.

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The victim of Paul Maiden's drink and drug-fuelled sex attack is now looking to the future, Teesside Crown Court heard

A woman went through "pure hell" when a rapist forced himself on her while she was sleeping next to her boyfriend.

Now she says she is looking to the future as sex attacker Paul Maiden, 33, starts a long prison sentence.

A judge said she hoped the woman could take comfort from the fact a jury believed her and convicted the rapist.

Maiden had been drinking and taking cocaine when he began raping the woman while she and her boyfriend slept.

She awoke to find him having sex with her, Teesside Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

"Initially she thought it was her boyfriend then realised that he was asleep next to her and realised it was you," Judge Deborah Sherwin told Maiden.

"There was something of a struggle.

"She was left covered in bruises. It isn't clear to me at all how this happened. Something happened to cause her that bruising."

Woman suffered post-traumatic stress disorder

The woman's boyfriend woke up to her shouting that Maiden had raped her, and he chased Maiden away.

Maiden was cut to the hand with a knife, and the boyfriend gave evidence that he felt he had to defend himself from the rapist.

In a moving statement the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she went through "pure hell".

Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said: "She has lost her self-esteem and it's compounded issues she had.

"She's still suffering from depression and a form of post-traumatic stress disorder but is looking forward to the future with confidence."

Judge Sherwin said the woman was particularly vulnerable as she was sleeping.

She said the victim was also affected by alcohol as she was found to be four times the alcohol limit for driving afterwards.

'It's had a profound effect on her life'

"It's had a profound effect on her life," added the judge.

"She sets out in her statement the attempt she has made to take her own life.

"I can only hope that she gains some comfort from the jury's verdict in this case."

Maiden, of Hartlepool Marina, denied rape but was convicted by a jury after a trial last week.

He had no previous convictions for sexual offences and had been out of trouble since a drink driving offence in 2010.

'Quite excessive levels of drinking'

Robin Denny, defending, said: "No relevant convictions. He's never been sent away.

"An incident which would never have happened if there hadn't been a background of quite excessive levels of drinking."

Passing sentence, Judge Sherwin said: "It could be argued she has suffered from severe psychological harm.

"The best mitigation is that you have no relevant previous convictions.

"You are effectively of good character and have never served a custodial sentence before."

Maiden was jailed for eight years.

He was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order banning him from contacting the victim, and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.

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The 16-year-old who raped and murdered Alesha MacPhail has been sentenced to a minimum of 27 years behind bars after he finally admitted his crime.

During his trial, Aaron Campbell had repeatedly denied he abducted, raped and killed the six-year-old on the Isle of Bute last July.

But he admitted his offences to a psychologist preparing a report to the court ahead of his sentencing.

Judge Lord Matthews imposed a life sentence for the "brutal" murder.

He set the punishment part of the sentence, before Campbell can apply for parole, at 27 years.

Lord Matthews said Campbell's crime had caused "revulsion and disbelief".

He said Alesha had been violated and murdered and told Campbell he was a "cold, callous, calculating, remorseless and dangerous individual".

The judge read out Campbell's "cold blooded and horrific" account of his actions that night and how he described seeing Alesha asleep in her room as "a moment of opportunity".

Campbell's confession was contained in the criminal justice social report and the criminal psychologist's report, which were prepared ahead of his sentencing.

The report by the forensic clinical psychologist Dr Gary Macpherson quoted Campbell as saying: "At any other time in life murder would not have been the conclusion.

"If I was a year younger I don't think I would have done it.

"All I thought about was killing her once I saw her."

In his sentencing statement, the judge said the teenager had shown breathtaking arrogance during the trial and had failed to plead guilty despite overwhelming evidence against him.

He said he had shown "a staggering lack of remorse".

"Not once did I detect a flicker of emotion from you," the judge said.

Lord Matthews said it would be for others to decide if Campbell would ever be released, indeed, he said his reintegration into society might be "impossible".

During his nine-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow last month, Campbell claimed he had never met his victim and lodged a special defence naming the 18-year-old girlfriend of Alesha's father as the killer.

The judge said this was a "cruel travesty of the truth" and said the woman he blamed, Toni McLachlan, was "completely innocent".

The judge said he was "shocked" by the clear admissions of guilt in the background reports, especially after the "tissue of lies" Campbell had told in court.

The psychologist said that on the night of Alesha's death Campbell had been drinking and wanted cannabis so he decided to go into her father's home to get some.

Alesha's father had previously sold him the drug.

In his sentencing statement, Lord Matthews said Campbell had carried Alesha to a secluded spot where he raped and murdered her "in the most brutal fashion".

He told the teenager: "You said that Alesha was drowsy and became a bit more awake when you went out.

"At one point she asked who you were and where you were going.

"You said you were a friend of her father and that you were taking her home."

'Harmful behaviour'

Campbell gave Alesha his coat because she was cold.

The judge said that over the next few days Campbell was unconcerned about what had happened, and was "slightly amused" that the police had not caught him.

The court heard that the teenager had said he was "quite satisfied by the murder".

The judge said Campbell told Dr Macpherson that at points during the trial it took "everything to stop laughing" and he had to "zip his mouth".

Lord Matthews said the reports concluded that Campbell was not suffering from a mental health disorder but showed a total lack of victim empathy.

Alesha, from Airdrie in Lanarkshire, was just days into a holiday when she was abducted from her bed.

She was reported missing from her grandparents' home on Ardbeg Road, near Rothesay, at 06:23 on 2 July last year.

Dozens of islanders joined the search for the child but at 08:54 her naked body was discovered in a wooded area in the grounds of the former Kyles Hydropathic Hotel.

A post-mortem examination later revealed she had suffered 117 injuries and died from significant pressure being applied to her face and neck.

After the sentence was read out family members shouted "evil" and "beast" as Campbell was led down to the cells.

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HGV driver John Ellison, 64, of Walton Road, Farlington, was found guilty of two charges of actual bodily harm and a single charge of raping a woman, a Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said.

The offences date back to the 1990s.

A judge at Preston Crown Court ordered him to sign the sex offenders' register for life when he was sentenced in February.

Ellison denied the charges against him.

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Copnor resident Michael Palmieri started up conversations with a number of boys before attempting to seduce them between 2010 and 2017, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

But 60-year-old Palmieri, who also had a catalogue of vile indecent images and movies of children crying while being abused, was eventually caught out by an online police investigation.

The court heard how the defendant, who previously served 21 months in jail in 2003 after he crept into a 10-year-old boy’s bed before touching him, had tried to maintain his innocence.

But his desperate attempts to convince police that he was not ‘interested in boys’ was shown up as bare-faced lies after overwhelming evidence of his offending.

Prosecutor Natasha Dardashti said: ‘The defendant said he thought he was talking to men posing as boys after revealing it was a fantasy of his.

‘In one exchange of messages, a boy said he was 14 years old and Mr Palmieri said he was 56.’

In other conversations the defendant pretended he had a son he abused and made graphic overtures to those on the receiving end in the chat rooms – including comments ‘I would love to see you naked’ and ‘that’s me daddy’.

During police interview in May 2018, Palmieri denied his involvement in the offences. Ms Dardashti said: ‘During his conversations online he said he thought the people he was talking to were adults posing as young boys.

‘He denied ever wanting to meet up and also denied he sent images. He said he had no interest in children but was just lonely and wanted someone to talk to. There was grooming behaviour and planning to what he was doing.’

In defence, Rob Bryan, said the images sent to chat room users were not of his own genitalia with his motivation ‘role play’.

Police investigations showed the defendant had 134 images on his computer and 132 movies showing various degrees of abuse being inflicted on children.

Palmieri, of Stubbington Avenue, admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, two charges of distributing indecent images and six counts of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity.

The offences were committed while he was serving a suspended prison term for driving while disqualified.

Judge William Ashworth said: ‘The effect on these children would have been demeaning and may lead to possible irreparable problem.’

He added: ‘The images showed children in extreme stress with some of them tied up with rope while they were crying. You accept your interest in young boys and failed to see the harm in your offending.’

Palmieri, who worked as a supervisor at Balfour Beatty, was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order as well as being locked up for 40 months.

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A top liver surgeon who had online sex chats with a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Dr Timothy Evans, 39, posed as a 15-year-old boy and persuaded his victim to send him intimate pictures of herself.

Evans worked at the Queen Elizabeth and Good Hope hospitals in Birmingham as a registrar and tried to blame a colleague for his crimes.

Last December Evans was found guilty of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

On Friday (15/3) Evans, of Harborne, Birmingham, was jailed and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

He was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Jurors heard Evans was arrested on April 20, 2016 on suspicion of engaging in sexual activity in front of a child but was later acquitted.

During the investigation police seized computers from his home and discovered he had set up a fake Skype profile.

Officers found out he was using it to speak to the girl, who was from Norway, in February 2012.

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A SEX offender has been jailed, after breaching the terms of a court order.

Simon Fellowes-Welch, 55, of Sutton Close, Ryde, who has a long history of child sex offences, breached the terms of a sexual harm prevention order.

The order, made in November 2017, specified that he could not delete any internet browsing history or download file-sharing software, both of which he did, Isle of Wight Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Graham Gilbert told the court how Fellowes-Welch had a history of breaching court orders and had spent time in prison before for child sex offences, including for indecent images of children.

In February, Fellowes-Welch's laptop was inspected by police and there was no internet history present and a file-sharing programme was found.

For Fellowes-Welch, Oscar Vincent told the court that before the breach, there was 15 months of compliance with the order.

Mr Vincent said that the breach was an innocent mistake, made by trying to improve a slow, out-of-date laptop.

He had run a system clean up programme in order to clear some memory on the laptop, in the hope that it would improve its performance, but in doing so inadvertently deleted his internet browsing history.

He had downloaded the file-sharing software in order to download the clean up programme, Mr Vincent said.

Mr Vincent said that as soon as he had realised his mistake, he told his offender manager, who arranged the police inspection of the laptop.

Fellowes-Welch was sentenced to one year in prison.

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Stefan Scott, 26, raped three victims and committed almost identical offences against all of the women by punching and strangling them.

A controlling monster who physically and sexually abused six women during a seven-year campaign of violence has been caged.

Stefan Scott, 26, was convicted of brutally strangling and raping three of the women, subjecting one of them to two violent rape ordeals.

He committed almost identical offences against all of his victims, threatening them, calling them derogatory names, punching them and often grabbing them by the throat.

The women he sexually assaulted who can't be named for legal reasons told a jury at the High Court in Livingston that Scott would not take no for an answer when he wanted sex and quickly became violent.

They gave evidence that the Buckfast drinker would hurl insults at them, calling them stupid bitch, slag, slut or whore and punch them repeatedly if they disobeyed his commands.

The jury took three hours to return unanimous verdicts finding him guilty of a total of 21 charges including the rapes, assault to injury and danger of life and making violent threats.

A further charge of raping one of his victims while asleep was found not proven and he was acquitted by judge Lord Burns.

During the five day trial, the rape victims aged 21, 29 and 33 gave remarkably similar accounts of how Scott would restrict their breathing by compressing their throat as he raped them.

The 33-year-old said he held her head under water and raped her three different ways during one terrifying incident.

Scott claimed in his own defence that all sexual activity with the women had been consensual and he denied their claims that he wouldn't take no for an answer claiming if the women werent up for sex it didn't happen.

He admitted there had been frequent arguments while he was with the females and that he had punched one of the women three times during a row.

He flatly denied strangling and raping any of them but the jury didnt believe him.

Former partners aged, 25, and 26, told how their relationships with Scott started well but quickly descended into controlling violence.

Evidence from a 29-year-old, who has since passed away, was also read out by a police officer.

The 25-year-old said he pinned her to a bed with his hands round her throat and compressed her neck for several minutes, restricting her breathing to the danger of her life.

She said he also threw a pot of water containing pasta at her forcing her to put her hands up to protect her face.

On another occasion he delivered a full-blown punch to her eye bursting her eyebrow and told her to tell people shed bumped into a door.

Another time he pulled her by the ankles off a bed so that she landed heavily on the floor

The 26-year-old said she spent six months with Scott before she discovered he was cheating on her with the 29-year-old, who was her best friend. During that time she said he would repeatedly shout and swear at her and call her abusive names.

After he started seeing the friend, she said she noticed her friend had bruises including a distinctive one in the shape of an iron on her leg.

The friend gave a statement to police after being admitted to hospital with severe bruising down her back and choke marks on her neck.

She revealed that he had threatened to burn down her home, tried to strangle her and pushed her head on the floor and repeatedly punched her to her injury.

She also told police she was subject to the same sort of name calling spoken to by the other witnesses.

Following the guilty verdicts advocate depute Cath Harper revealed that Scott, of Rannoch Road, Perth, had previous convictions for domestic abuse and had served two 10-month prison terms, the most recent imposed in August last year.

Lord Burns called for reports into Scotts background and an assessment of the risk he poses to the public in general and women in particular before passing sentence at Glasgow High Court on 5 April. He remanded Scott in custody until then.

He ordered that Scottish Ministers be notified of the rape convictions under laws for the protection of vulnerable groups and told Scott his name would remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

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A convicted sex offender in hospital for an operation used another patient's laptop to download "cartoons" of child abuse.

David Driver, 47, befriended the 80-year-old man at Castle Hill Hospital and asked to borrow his laptop.

But when it was returned, a nurse who knew of Driver's status as a sex offender asked to see its search history, and saw what he had been up to.

Neil Coxon, prosecuting in Hull Crown Court, said Driver had twice accessed the internet, at 1.10am and 1.20am on August 1 last year, using paedophile search terms. These included "incest videos", "forbidden" sex, and others making reference to "Lolita".

In total, he was caught with six computer-generated prohibited images, most of which would have been in category B if they were photographs, and also category A - the most extreme or serious.

"Most related to child sexual activity, and in particular, incest," Mr Coxon said. One was supposedly of a child aged five. The images were accompanied by speech bubbles, which "gave a graphic description of what was happening in the images".

Driver, of Great Thornton Street, west Hull, was arrested on September 5 and in police interview "accepted that he had used such search terms," Mr Coxon said.

"He accepted he'd seen images of females and thought they were under 18 in states of undress. He said he hadn't downloaded anything, and therefore, in his terms, he hadn't made the images".

History of sex offending

Driver admitted possessing prohibited images, which has a maximum sentence of three years in jail. He was sentenced to a "significant" prison sentence for sexual contact offences committed in his late 20s and early 30s, and also had convictions for drugs and shop theft.

Driver had previously been sent on sex offender treatment programmes, which "appear to have worn off", Judge David Tremberg said.

Paul Genney, for Driver, said: "I've never come across this before. These are drawings, these are cartoons. Whether it makes the offences less serious I don't know, I'm in your honour's hands."

"I think there's an argument for saying that it does, on the basis that no live children have been exploited," the judge said.

Sentencing Driver, Judge Tremberg said he would deserve "every day" of the relatively short prison sentence he faced, but he would come out an "unreconstructed sex offender", and society would be better protected if he were to have more treatment.

Driver was sentenced to a two-year community order, which includes 29 group sessions on the Horizon sex offender programme, and up to 15 days rehabilitation. He must register as a sex offender for five years, and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely.

Driver had been in hospital to have bones removed from his neck.

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A Catholic priest has been jailed for nine years and 11 months after being found guilty of abusing six children in the 1970s.

Francis McDermott, 75, of Westward Ho in Bideford, abused six victims, some as young as 10, in London, Norwich, and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, between 1971 and 1978, Aylesbury Crown Court heard.

Two of his victims read statements during Thursday's sentencing hearing which recounted the "devastating impact" he had on their lives.

One said: "I hate you. There is no one to blame but you," while another described how her family had all been "married and baptised by a disgusting monster".

Judge Catherine Tulk told McDermott he had "turned down so many opportunities to admit your wrongdoing".

She noted the irony that one of the central tenets of the Catholic Church was confession.

The offences were reported to the church on two separate occasions but were not passed on to police after McDermott denied the allegations, the court heard.

McDermott was found guilty of 18 counts of historic child sex offences following a trial.

Trevor Burke QC, defending McDermott, said the defendant had been a Catholic priest "all his adult life" but said "for a period of seven years where he had completely lost his way".   

A woman who was sexually abused by McDermott when she was aged just 12 thought she was in love and never suspected his actions were wrong.

Eleanor, now in her 50s, was reeling from a family tragedy when Father Francis McDermott came into her life and began abusing her over an 18-month period.

The 74-year-old was convicted of 18 sexual offences against children in the 1970s after a trial at Aylesbury Crown Court.

The first time he kissed her he was lying on a sofa in her family home and asked her for a cuddle, Eleanor recalled, but he soon progressed to touching her intimately under her clothes.

Eleanor, whose name has been changed for legal reasons, said: "I fell in love with him and I thought that he loved me... I would feel a bit upset if he ignored me around other people, because I thought that I was special, that I was with him, he was mine I suppose."

One of six victims, Eleanor "never dreamed" he was doing anything to other children.

She only realised what had happened to her was wrong when, five years later, her then-partner reacted with shock when she told him who she had shared her first kiss with.

She said: "He didn't know what to do with that information. He was angry, he was confused. It was horrendous.

"And I just stood there and I can remember even now just standing there being totally bewildered because as far as I knew it wasn't wrong. I didn't ever suspect that anything that went on between me and Frank was wrong.

"I just didn't know what to do with that person's reaction, I didn't know why it was wrong, I didn't know whether to feel bad about it, it was just like a massive explosion in my head."

Eleanor, who went on to marry her partner, said a "black shadow" had always loomed over their relationship because of the previous abuse.

he said: "You shut your eyes and it was like Frank was there, not my husband, it was just horrible."

Eleanor said she reported the abuse first to her church, and then to police five years later in 2002.

Initially she did not want to take the matter further, but when Thames Valley Police got in touch in 2017 saying they were investigating McDermott she was determined to work with them.

She believes she was the only one of McDermott's victims to testify against her abuser in court without a screen.

Describing her experience, she said: "I decided not to have the screen, it wasn't because that enabled me to look at Frank, but I just wanted to be empowered with that, I wanted to let him know that he didn't have that hold over me, and that I had done nothing wrong.

"I did think about having a screen but for me I wanted to then return to the court...I wanted to be in the area where he was having to deal with the past and what evilness he had done. And I just wanted to be in the place where that was happening."

She added: "At times I felt sick to my stomach because it brought back things about my childhood and that part of me that I'll never have back, I'll never know what might have been for me, if this had not have happened."

Eleanor said McDermott's denial and lack of remorse was upsetting, and hopes he will spend the rest of his life in jail.

She feels that his jail sentence will prompt her to seek further counselling as she believes it will cause feelings of anger to surface.

She said: "At the moment I can't forgive him for what he did to me and the others. It's horrendous the impact that something like this has, not only on yourself but the people around you, your family, your friends."

But, she added: "I won't let him ruin my life, it hasn't ruined my life, it's made me very, very sad and I think I've missed out on things, but I'm not going to let him hold me down."

After the sentencing an NSPCC spokesperson said: “McDermott used his trusted position as a priest to not only groom children but also their families in order to commit sickening abuse.

“He probably thought he had long got away with his vile crimes but the young people he manipulated and abused all those years ago have today helped put him behind bars.

“Their courage shows that it is never too late to report abuse and for victims who may have suffered for years in silence to come forward and get support.”

Detective Constable Catriona Cameron, of the Child Abuse Investigation Department in Aylesbury police station, said after the trial: “Francis McDermott was a priest in the Catholic Church held in high regard and was a trusted member of the community. He used his position to befriend children for his own sexual gratification.

“The six victims in this case bravely came forward to report the abuse they suffered more than 40 years ago. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their courage and support of this investigation.

“They have been put through the trauma of a trial adding extra distress to them, and McDermott showed no remorse.

“Thames Valley Police will always take reports of any sexual offence seriously and will investigate reports thoroughly whether these are recent or non-recent.

“I hope this is the start of a healing process for all those involved.”

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Cleaning company manager Micheal Harris from Bitterne Park in Southampton has escaped an immediate prison sentence after sexually communication with a child.

The court heard that the communications took place between the 16th June 2018 until the 4th August 2018

At the hearing at Southampton Crown Court.

Harris was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment suspended for a period of 24 months.

He must also comply with the following requirements to register under S.92 Sexual Offences Act 2003 for a period of 7 years.

Must participate in the HORIZON programme.

He will also have to undertake all rehabilitation activity requirements as described by an authorised provided of probation for 10 days.

Harris was also placed on the Sex offenders register for a period of seven years.

The court ordered Harris to pay a surcharge of 115 to fund the victim services along with 500 prosecution costs .

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Wayne Thompson targeted the young boy :: He later came into contact with children when he met a 16-year-old on social media

A sex offender who targeted a very young boy in a sick campaign of abuse has been branded a dangerous offender by a judge.

Wayne Thompson's crimes were exposed in December when a jury found him guilty of sexual abusing the boy.

He had already admitted breaching a sexual offences protection order (SOPO), imposed some years ago when Thompson was found in possession of child abuse images.

Now, the 39-year-old has been locked up for six years - with an extended licence period of four years - for a host of depraved crimes.

Branding Thompson a dangerous offender, Judge Stephen Ashurst told him he "posed a significant risk of serious harm".

"I have read all the reports about you," said the judge.

"The worrying aspect is your continued denial of the offences, your continued denial of your sexual attraction to young boys, and despite being served with an order, you've continued to have contact with children.

"Your compliance has been superficial, and the measures taken have not been adequate to stop you offending."

The victim's mother told Teesside Crown Court on Monday that since the abuse her son "wasn't the little boy I gave birth to".

She said he'd needed medication after suffering nightmares and crippling anxiety, which became worse as December's trial date approached.

The boy gave evidence - and Thompson was found guilty on three counts of sexual assault and two of engaging in sexual activity with a child. He was acquitted of a rape charge.

But the court heard that as Thompson continued to abuse the boy, he was separately convicted at court of possessing indecent images of children, where he was given a SOPO.

This banned him from coming into contact with children without notifying the police.

But prosecutor Jo Kidd told the court on Monday that Thompson later met a 16-year-old boy on social media.

Thompson visited his home, where other children were living, and even accompanied the teen on family trips to Beamish, Lightwater Valley and soft play centres, with children present, putting him in breach of the order.

Thompson admitted those breaches at Teesside Magistrates' Court last July.

Mitigating, Stephen Littlewood said Thompson had "suffered from his own difficulties and has had mental health difficulties".

"This is no excuse," he said. "But from the letter the court has received from his father, it shows he is capable of kindness.

"He has looked after his 93-year-old grandmother and he may never get to see her again, out of custody."

Mr Littlewood accepted that Thompson, of Somerset Road, Guisborough, had breached his SOPO a number of times, but said there was no question he abused the other children he came into contact with.

Judge Ashurst said Thompson would serve his six year sentence, but then be subject to an extra four years of an 'extended licence' - and also made his SOPO indefinite.